California's Sen. Harris starts run for presidency

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks to members of the media at her alma mater, Howard University, on Monday in Washington, after her announcement earlier in the morning that she will run for president.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks to members of the media at her alma mater, Howard University, on Monday in Washington, after her announcement earlier in the morning that she will run for president.

WASHINGTON -- Kamala Harris, a first-term senator and former California attorney general known for her rigorous questioning of President Donald Trump's nominees, entered the Democratic presidential race on Monday.

Harris would be the first woman to hold the presidency and the second black.

Harris, 54, who grew up in Oakland, Calif., is one of the earliest high-profile Democrats to join what is expected to be a crowded field. She made her long anticipated announcement on ABC's Good Morning America.

"I am running for president of the United States," she said. "And I'm very excited about it."

She portrayed herself as a fighter for justice, decency and equality in a video distributed by her campaign as she announced her bid.

"They're the values we as Americans cherish, and they're all on the line now," Harris said in the video. "The future of our country depends on you and millions of others lifting our voices to fight for our American values."

On ABC, she cited her years as a prosecutor in asserting: "My entire career has been focused on keeping people safe. It is probably one of the things that motivates me more than anything else."

Harris launched her presidential bid as the nation observes what would have been the 90th birthday of the slain civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Harris has joked that she had a "stroller's-eye view" of the civil-rights movement because her parents wheeled her and her sister Maya to protests.

The opening hours of Harris' campaign included a number of other cultural touchstones. Staff members said her timing, and the design and color of her campaign logo, were a nod to Shirley Chisholm, the New York congressman who sought the Democratic Party's presidential nomination 47 years ago this week. Upon returning to Washington, Harris spoke to reporters at Howard University, the historically black college that she attended as an undergraduate and on Monday described as "one of the most important aspects of my life."

Harris, the daughter of a man from Jamaica and a woman from southern India, faced at least one question about her heritage on Monday. When a reporter asked how she would describe herself, Harris replied: "How do I describe myself? I describe myself as a proud American. That's how I describe myself."

She skipped the formality of forming an exploratory committee, instead going all in on a presidential bid.

She plans a formal campaign launch Sunday in Oakland. The campaign will be based in Baltimore, with a second office in Oakland.

Harris joins what is expected to be a wide-open race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York have both formed exploratory committees. Other Democrats who have already declared their intentions include former Maryland Rep. John Delaney and Julian Castro, the housing chief during President Barack Obama's administration.

Harris launches her campaign fresh off of a tour to promote her latest memoir, The Truths We Hold, which was widely seen as a stage-setter for a presidential bid.

She is already planning her first trip to an early primary state as a declared candidate. On Friday, Harris will travel to South Carolina to attend the Pink Ice Gala in Columbia, which is hosted by a South Carolina chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, which Harris pledged as an undergraduate student at Howard University.

She also has planned a trip to Iowa, where she campaigned on behalf of Democrats during the 2018 midterm elections.

Asked Monday about her path to the nomination, Harris said it would go "through all of the states that are the 50 states of the United States."

"It is going to be about speaking truth, especially when there has been so much that is contrary to truth," she said.

Harris' campaign staff says she plans to reject the assistance of a super PAC, as well as corporate PAC money. She's invested heavily in cultivating a digital, small-dollar donor network.

A Section on 01/22/2019

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