Kamala Devi Harris (more popular as Kamala Harris) is the current Vice President of the United States who came to national prominence after delivering a memorable address at the 2012 Democratic National Congress. Before this, however, she had served as the Assistant District Attorney of the city of San Francisco, the City Attorney, District Attorney, and the Attorney General of California. While Kamala’s career history is common knowledge, in this piece, we are turning our attention to her family. Who are the people in her life and what can we know about them?
Who Are Kamala Harris’s Parents And Siblings?
Kamala Harris has a mixed parental background with roots in India and Jamaica. Her mother Shyamala Gopalan is a Tamil Indian who emigrated from Chennai in India in the early 1960s. Born in 1938, Shyamala is a daughter of an Indian Diplomat. But she made her own mark as a breast cancer researcher, a job that she did with passion until her demise in 1990.
As for Kamala’s father, his name is Donald Harris. As earlier hinted, Donald is a Black American who hails from Jamaica. Like his wife, he too emigrated to the USA in the early 1960s. He came to study at the University of California. After receiving his degree in economics, Donald worked as a professor at Stanford University.
Kamala Harris’ parents got separated when she was just 7 years old. Her mother, who took custody of her and her sister Maya, relocated them from the United States to Montreal, Quebec (Canada) where the two girls were raised. Eventually, when Kamala grew up, she went back to the United States where she received her Juris Doctor degree.
Although Kamala does not have any biological child yet, she plays stepmom—and this, quite adequately—to her husband’s grown kids from his previous marriage. She has a cordial relationship with the youths named Cole and Ella who both fondly call her by the name ‘Momola’. Kamala once wrote that her background as a product of a broken home had helped her a lot in building a good relationship with her stepkids.
Kamala’s sister Maya Harris is also a lawyer like her. Maya currently works as an MSNBC political analyst. A lawyer too, Kamala’s brother-in-law, Tony West, is a former senior official of the U.S Justice Department and is also the General Counsel for Uber. The Senator has a niece and two stepchildren by reason of her relationship with Douglas Emhoff.
All You Need To Know About Kamala Harris Husband, Douglas Ernhoff
Kamala Harris and Douglas Ernhoff got married on August 22, 2014, in Santa Barbara, California. They had earlier gotten engaged on April 7, 2014. Kamala and Douglas had met on a blind date that was set up by one of her close friends, a PR agent.
Ernhoff is a Jewish-American lawyer who has once filled the position of the partner-in-charge at the Los Angeles office of the high-brow law firm Venable LLP. An entertainment attorney, Douglas Ernhoff currently works as a partner at a California office of the multinational law firm DLA Piper LLC. His job as an entertainment lawyer has him representing big corporations and highly influential individuals according to his profile on the DLA Piper website.
On the day of their wedding, both Kamala and Ernhoff were reported to be 49 years of age (although some other sources said he was 54 instead). While it was Kamala’s first marriage ever, it was Ernhoff’s second. Ernhoff had two issues (no longer kids) from his previous marriage as earlier hinted on. His son named Cole graduated from Colorado College while his daughter named Ella is currently a student of Fine Arts at the Parson’s School of Design.
Douglas was noted for the unreserved support he gave to his wife Kamala Harris during her run for the Presidency of the US. They were often seen together at campaign events. Then, he literally turned into her PR agent on social media. Well, he does this for all of his family: He is the biggest fan of their children too.
Although Ernhoff is the first husband that Kamala Harris ever had in her 50 years lifetime so far, he is not the first man ever in her life. While we do not have all the details about Harris’s former dates, we know at least that she was once in a relationship with Willie Brown who was the Speaker of the California State Assembly at the time. Needless to say, they eventually broke up.