Kamala Harris Becomes Joe Biden’s Vice President

On August 11, Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden chose California Senator Kamala Harris to be his running mate and Vice President. The selection carries a lot of implications for the November elections, so let’s look at some of them here.

A Black woman, Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California, and is currently 55 years old. Prior to serving as U.S. Senator from California from 2017, she had been the Attorney General of California from 2011 to 2017 and District Attorney of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011.

As Senator, she is pro-choice, supportive of affirmative action, supports federal deregulation of cannabis, supports healthcare reform (including previously cosponsoring Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All bill), supports a ban on assault-style weapons, supports the DREAM Act and allowing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, supports a progressive tax system, and does not support NAFTA. She is also a fierce opposer of President Trump and his policies. As a result, she can be considered a fairly progressive politician.

Should she be elected, she will the first-ever woman, African-American, and South Asian-American to become Vice President. As of right now, she is one of only three female historical vice presidential candidates.

Women and people of color (especially women of color), two of the Democratic Party’s major driving forces, will finally see themselves being represented on a national stage. Add this to the experience she had previously in trying to become a candidate for the presidency, she is looking like a very strong vice presidential candidate. She will help sure up the minority vote and draw many voters who didn’t vote in 2016.

Republicans have immediately began to attack Harris and brand her as “in favor of socialized medicine,” “very big into raising taxes,” and “one of the most liberal U.S. Senators.” President Trump also described her as “nasty” for opposing Justice Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

She will also help to sure up donations and fundraising from her home state of California, as well as potentially draw voters from the Southwest. The Electoral Map now looks as follows, with a ticket of Joe Biden/Kamala Harris for the Democratic Party and Donald Trump/Mike Pence for the Republican Party:

This map also takes into account of winning margins. For example, although Colorado, New Mexico, and Virginia are no longer swing states, they are unlikely to vote for Joe Biden by at 15+ point margin. The Democratic ticket should also sure up support in Arizona, and Utah may even be somewhat competitive, because of popular Republican senator (and former governor) Mitt Romney’s refusal to support the nomination of Donald Trump. In 2016, for instance, 21% of Utahn voters voted for an independent candidate, by far the best state for an independent. It is also likely the rust belt region will vote for Joe Biden by a margin of more than 5%, so they all go into the likely category.

All eyes are now on the November 3 election, which is just 83 days away. The Democratic National Convention will take place starting next Monday virtually and the Republican National Convention will take place starting August 24. In the meantime, make sure to follow the blog for more analyses and leave a comment down below.