CAWP Statement on Kamala Harris Becoming the First Woman and First Woman of Color Elected Vice President

Senator Kamala Harris will be the first woman to serve as vice president of the United States, as well as the first woman of color, the first Black woman, and the first South Asian woman. This is an enormously significant moment in the story of women’s participation in American politics and in the history of our country. That it happens during the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which expanded some women’s political participation while women like Kamala Harris remained excluded, is all the more symbolic. At this pivotal moment in history, she is the face of the future of the Democratic Party. Her win puts to rest the question of the electability of women to high office — a question that haunted both the women and people of color who ran for the Democratic nomination this cycle. To women and girls of all walks of life, of every political persuasion, Harris’s ascension to the vice presidency broadens the horizons of the possible.

Debbie Walsh
Director, Center for American Women and Politics