Key Points
- Kamala Harris' US presidential campaign has placed an emphasis on family.
- Speaking at the DNC, Harris discussed her mother: "A brilliant five-foot-tall brown woman with an accent".
- Harris is a stepmother to two children, and her younger sister Maya is a lawyer and public policy advocate.
Kamala Harris' campaign for the United States presidency is putting families in the spotlight.
American families shared stories as part of the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC), including that of a young mother who described almost dying as she miscarried and the brother and mother of a US police officer who died as a result of the 6 January Capitol riot.
American families of all types were a focus at the Democratic National Convention held during the week. Source: Getty / Chip Somodevilla
"My mother was a brilliant five-foot-tall brown woman with an accent," she said.
"I saw how the world would sometimes treat her. But my mother never lost her cool."
If Harris becomes president of the US, her family members will likely become household names around the world — so who are those closest to the Democratic presidential nominee?
The first second gentleman
Harris' husband, , became the first second gentleman when Harris was elected vice-president and if she is to become president he would become the first first gentleman.
He met Harris in 2013 when he was an entertainment lawyer and she was California's attorney general.
The couple married in 2014.
Speaking at the Democratic National Convention, Emhoff described his wife as a "joyful warrior".
Emhoff is the first Jewish spouse of a vice-president and would be the first Jewish spouse of a president if Harris is successful in November's election.
He has recently taken a public stand against antisemitism.
"Kamala has fought against antisemitism and all forms of hate her whole career. She's the one who encouraged me, as second gentleman, to take up that fight which is so personal to me," he said.
Emhoff has two children from his previous marriage to film producer Kirstin Emhoff, whom Harris has described as a "dear friend".
Harris' step-son
Cole Emhoff was in his senior year of high school when his father met Harris.
In a video produced by his mother and shared as part of the , Cole Emhoff described Harris as "the blind date that would dramatically change all of our lives forever".
The 29-year-old works for a production company.
He married Greenley Littlejohn in 2023, with Harris officiating the ceremony.
Rather than referring to Harris as their stepmom, he and his sister refer to her as "Momala".
The vice-president's step-daughter
Ella Emhoff is a model, fashion designer and artist.
Kamala Harris' step-daughter Ella Emhoff spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago where the vice-president officially accepted her nomination as the party's presidential candidate. Source: Getty / Win McNamee
An Instagram story by Ella Emhoff said "I love my three parents" and "How can you be 'childless' when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I?"
A 'tough, courageous' mother
Both of Harris' parents were migrants to the USA.
Her father, Donald Harris, who is now in his 80s, was a Jamaican-American economist and a university professor.
Harris' mother, the late Shyamala Gopalan Harris, migrated to the USA by herself at the age of 19.
"When she finished school, she was supposed to return home to a traditional arranged marriage, but as fate would have it, she met my father, Donald Harris, a student from Jamaica," Harris said in her closing speech at the DNC.
"They fell in love and got married, and that act of self-determination made my sister Maya and me," she said.
Kamala Harris describes her mother Shyamala Gopalan Harris as a trailblazer. Source: Twitter / @VP
Harris' parents divorced when she was in elementary school and she was closest with her mother, who she and her sister lived with after the separation.
Reflecting on her mother's influence Harris said "She was tough, courageous, a trailblazer in the fight for women's health, and she taught Maya and me ... to never complain about injustice, but do something about it."
Kamala Harris' sister
One of the vice-president's closest confidants is her younger sister Maya Harris.
She is a lawyer and public policy advocate, who in 2016 worked as a policy adviser on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and in 2020, was the chairperson of Harris' presidential campaign.
Maya Harris told those at the Democratic National Convention their mother raised them "to believe we could be and do anything".
