- Vice President Kamala Harris became the leading Democratic nominee on Sunday.
- In the past, the former California prosecutor presented herself as a center-left politician.
- But her stances on abortion, climate, and the economy have managed to draw in progressives.
Vice President Kamala Harris became the leading contender for the Democratic nomination after President Joe Biden, in a stunning reversal, announced on Sunday his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race four months before the election.
Presenting herself as a center-left politician, Harris previously ran successful campaigns in California, winning statewide races for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, the state attorney general, and the US Senate.
During the 2020 election, Harris became a potential frontrunner for the Democratic nomination and was seen as a relative moderate next to Biden. Her bid, however, was unsuccessful, as some critics pointed out her inability to present a clear ideological vision.
Still, the former prosecutor-turned-vice president has been able to draw in moderates and progressives alike with her stances on abortion, climate, and the economy.
Here’s where she stands on major issues:
Abortion
Harris has supported abortion rights since her time in the Senate.
She previously voted against a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and criticized Justice Brett Kavanaugh for his position on abortion during his confirmation hearing in 2018.
As vice president, Harris has repeatedly highlighted the significance of abortion rights, becoming a leading voice on the issue for the Biden administration in the wake of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
According to CNN, Harris made what was believed to be the first official visit to an abortion clinic by a sitting president or vice president.
Climate
Harris previously supported policies to combat climate change, including plans to transition the US to 100% renewable energy and a carbon tax.
In July 2023, Harris helped the Biden administration introduce a $20 billion plan to fund climate and clean energy projects throughout the US.
Criminal justice
As a district attorney and attorney general, Harris took several controversial actions that progressives criticized but has shifted her stances over time. She even ran left of Biden on several issues related to criminal justice reform in 2020, according to The Marshall Project.
Harris cosponsored the 2018 Marijuana Justice Act, which would no longer classify cannabis as a controlled substance. She previously opposed the legalization of recreational marijuana before changing her stance in 2018.
During her 2020 campaign, Harris presented a plan to reduce the prison population for women and children and put an end to solitary confinement.
She also said that she would support a federal standard on use-of-force for police departments and proposed establishing a federal board that could review police shootings, according to The Marshall Project.
Economy
Harris is expected to tout some of the headway the Biden administration has made with economic policies, including Biden’s Infrastructure Deal and the Inflation Reduction Act, which included a cap on insulin costs.
In April, Harris announced a nationwide “Economic Opportunity Tour” to promote the administration’s progress in investments toward small businesses, inflation, and student loan forgiveness.
Previously, Harris introduced policies to support the middle class, such as a $3,000 refundable tax credit for those making $50,000 or less a year and a $6,000 credit to couples making $100,000 or less.
She’s also pushed for higher corporate taxes and criticized former President Donald Trump’s tax cuts.
Healthcare
During her first presidential run, Harris’ rivals drilled her over her shifting stances on healthcare. In 2019, Harris made waves when she became the first major potential Democratic presidential hopeful to team up with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont on a “Medicare for All” plan.
As a presidential candidate, Harris waffled on whether she would allow private insurance plans to continue. She raised her hand during a primary debate to indicate she would end such plans, only to say later that she had misunderstood the question.
Harris ultimately rolled out her own “Medicare for All” proposal, which Sanders’ campaign attacked for moving too slow (her plan called for a 10-year transition period) and Biden’s advisors hammered for being too progressive, as HuffPost wrote about recently.
In another difference from Biden, Harris has supported strong drug pricing controls, including tying US prices to what drugs cost in other wealthy nations, per Stat News.
Immigration
Immigration is another area where Harris has shifted her policy stances over time.
As a San Francisco DA, she supported a city policy that turned over young immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they were arrested or accused of committing a felony.
Later on, a Harris campaign spokesperson told CNN that the “policy could have been applied more fairly.”
Harris said she wanted to potentially overhaul ICE, criticized Trump’s border wall as a “medieval vanity project,” and backed the bipartisan border security deal that would have closed the border if a threshold of 5,000 migrants a week was reached. Senate Republicans shot down the legislation in May.
As vice president, Harris was tasked with handling the root causes of migration to the US from Central America. In a move which angered some congressional Democrats, Harris warned migrants not to travel to the US border.
“Do not come. Do not come. The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our borders,” Harris said during a 2021 news conference alongside then-Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei.
Republicans have already tried to inflate Harris’ responsibilities, deeming her a “border czar.” Polling has shown that Trump holds a major advantage on immigration, illustrating why the GOP wants to saddle Harris with the issue.
Israel-Gaza
During her 2020 run, Harris was a strong supporter of the US’s relationship with Israel, once calling it an “unbreakable” bond, and assured that she would do “everything in my power” to maintain Israel’s right to self-defense.
Following the Hamas invasion of Israel, Harris said that “the threat Hamas poses to the people of Israel must be eliminated” but also later called for an “immediate cease-fire” in Gaza in March.
She also reiterated the Biden administration’s call against Israel’s invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza.
In December 2023, Harris said that she supports a two-state solution.
LGBTQ+ rights
Harris supported the legalization of same-sex marriage and did not defend California’s prohibition of gay marriage during her time as attorney general.
However, Harris sought to deny gender-affirmation surgery to a trans prisoner, arguing that it was not “immediately necessary.”
As San Francisco DA, she established a hate crimes unit to investigate crimes against LGBTQ+ youth.
Harris re-affirmed her support for LGBTQ+ rights as vice president but has not provided specific policies.
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