Who is Maya Harris, Kamala Harris’ sister?
Maya Harris, who nominated her sister Wednesday as the Democratic candidate for vice president at the party’s national convention, had a rockier experience when last seen in the political arena.
Maya Harris, 53, was campaign chairwoman for her older sister’s ill-fated 2020 presidential campaign — a campaign that fizzled in 2019.
Harris Wednesday joined her daughter Meena and Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter, Ella Emoff, to nominate the California senator.
“My very first friend, my confidante, my partner in mischief and in justice,” Maya Harris said of her sister.
“Growing up heaven help the poor kid who picked on me because my big sister would be there in a flash ready to have my back,” she said. “Well, now we’ve got your back as you and Joe (Biden) fight to protect our democracy.”
Maya Harris’ last stint in the political spotlight was less gentle. She helped run a campaign often marred by confusion about where the candidate stood and what strategy to pursue.
In June, 2019, for instance, Kamala Harris raised her hand at a Democratic debate when NBC’s Lester Holt asked “Who here would abolish their private health insurance in favor of government-run plan? Show of hands?”
The only other candidate to raise a hand was Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a proponent of Medicare for All.
But after being criticized, Harris quickly came up with a new plan, a Medicare for All 10-year phase-in that would allow private insurers to sell coverage that met Medicare cost and benefit requirements.
The campaign was reportedly plagued with disorganization. The campaign operation was divided between San Francisco, where Harris served as prosecutor, and Baltimore, a city that was hardly a national political nerve center.
The sisters have always been close. They were raised largely by their mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris. She and their father divorced when the sisters were young.
Like her big sister, Maya Harris became a lawyer and deeply involved in politics. She was a key policy aide to 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.
She had been director of its Racial Justice Project, concentrating on criminal justice and education issues. Among her efforts were trying to reform the “three strikes” law.
Maya Harris married Tony West, the third-ranking official in the Obama administration’s Justice Department, and now is chief legal officer at Uber.
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 7:32 PM with the headline "Who is Maya Harris, Kamala Harris’ sister?."
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