Virginia’s going to get to know Kamala Harris a lot better - better than when she came to Henrico County in 2022 to rally opposition to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s push to limit access to abortion, an issue likely to dominate her race for the White House.
What to know: Vice President Kamala Harris is the instant front-runner for Democrats
Issues Harris has focused on as vice president
With Biden’s election in 2020, Harris became the first woman and person of color to hold the position of vice president.
In this position, the Biden administration has had Harris focus on multiple issues, including immigration and reproductive rights. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark decision Roe v. Wade in June 2022, removing a person’s constitutional right to an abortion, Harris became the White House’s leading voice in arguing in favor of reproductive rights nationwide.
Also during her vice presidency, Harris has led efforts to address high maternal mortality rates nationwide. In a visit to Dallas earlier this month, she announced new White House initiatives to create baseline standards for maternal health services at hospitals. That speech came before a crowd of nearly 20,000 at the 2024 Kappa Alpha Kappa Sorority’s national convention. Harris joined the sorority in 1986 while a student at Howard University.
Early during Biden’s term in office, Harris also was assigned to focus on the “root causes” of immigration to the U.S. from countries like Guatemala and El Salvador. Since then, she has borne much of the brunt of criticism of the Biden administration’s U.S.-Mexico Southern Border policy.
