page_title: Kamala Harris
section_title: District Attorney of San Francisco (2004–2011)
hierarchical_section_title: Kamala Harris / District Attorney of San Francisco (2004–2011)
caption_attribution_description: English: Congresswoman Pelosi meets San Francisco's District Attorney, Kamala Harris; March 30, 2004
context_page_description: Kamala Devi Harris is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the junior United States senator from California since 2017. She is the Democratic vice presidential nominee for the 2020 election.
  Born in Oakland, California, Harris graduated from Howard University and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, before being recruited to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and later the City Attorney of San Francisco's office. In 2003, she was elected district attorney of San Francisco. She was elected attorney general of California in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.
  She defeated Loretta Sanchez in the 2016 Senate election to become the second African-American woman and the first South Asian American to serve in the United States Senate. As a senator, she has advocated for healthcare reform, federal descheduling of cannabis, a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, the DREAM Act, a ban on assault weapons, and progressive tax reform. She gained a national profile for her pointed questioning of Trump administration officials during Senate hearings.
context_section_description: In 2002, Harris prepared to run against Hallinan. She set up her campaign office in the Bayview neighborhood.
  Harris was the least-known of the three candidates, but persuaded the Central Committee to withhold its endorsement from Hallinan. Harris and Hallinan advanced to the general election runoff with 33 and 37 percent of the vote, respectively.
  In the runoff, Harris pledged never to seek the death penalty and to prosecute three-strike offenders only in cases of violent felonies. Harris ran a "forceful" campaign, assisted by former mayor Willie Brown, Senator Dianne Feinstein, writer and cartoonist Aaron McGruder, and comedians Eddie Griffin and Chris Rock. Harris differentiated herself from Hallinan by attacking his performance. She argued that she left his office because it was technologically inept, emphasizing his 52 percent conviction rate for serious crimes despite an 83 percent average conviction rate statewide.  Harris charged that his office was not doing enough to stem the city's gun violence, particularly in poor neighborhoods like Bayview and the Tenderloin, and attacked his willingness to accept plea bargains in cases of domestic violence. Harris won with 56 percent of the vote, becoming the first person of color elected as district attorney of San Francisco.
caption: Harris in 2004 with California congresswoman Nancy Pelosi
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