Kamala Harris 2024 presidential campaign facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Harris for President 2024 |
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| Campaign | 2024 U.S. presidential election |
| Candidate | Kamala Harris 49th Vice President of the United States (2021–present) Tim Walz 41st Governor of Minnesota (2019–present) |
| Affiliation | Democratic Party |
| Status | Announced: July 21, 2024 Presumptive nominee: July 22, 2024 Official nominee: August 5, 2024 Lost election: November 5, 2024 |
| Headquarters | Wilmington, Delaware |
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| Receipts | US$488,608,605.70 (July 31, 2024) |
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| Theme song | "Freedom" by Beyoncé featuring Kendrick Lamar (Harris) "Small Town" by John Mellencamp (Walz) |
Kamala Harris, the 49th and incumbent vice president of the United States, announced her 2024 campaign for president on July 21, 2024, after incumbent President Joe Biden withdrew his bid for reelection and endorsed her earlier the same day. Harris became the official nominee of the Democratic Party on August 5 following a virtual roll call vote; she selected Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate the following day. Harris is the first nominee who did not participate in the primaries since Vice President Hubert Humphrey in 1968.
Harris rose to national prominence in 2016 during her campaign for the United States Senate. She became more widely known when she sought the party's nomination for the 2020 presidential election but withdrew from the race in 2019, citing a lack of funds. She endorsed Joe Biden and was chosen to be his running mate in 2020. After Biden and Harris won the general election, she became the first female vice president of the United States upon her inauguration in 2021.
Harris advocated a similar domestic platform to Biden on some issues, supporting stricter gun control, and legislation to address climate change. She also supported strengthening voting rights, strengthening the Affordable Care Act, and federal funding of housing. Harris departed from Biden on economic issues, proposing what has been described as a "populist" economic agenda, limited control of grocery and food prices in response to what the campaign characterized as "price gouging", capping prescription drug costs, and expanding the child tax credit. On foreign policy, she supported continued military aid to Ukraine and Israel in their respective wars, but insisted that Israel should agree to a ceasefire and hostage deal and work towards a two-state solution. On immigration, Harris supported increasing the number of Border Patrol agents and reforming the immigration system. A presidential debate between Harris and Trump was held on September 10 on ABC, and a vice presidential debate between Walz and JD Vance was held on October 1 on CBS.
Harris lost the general election to Republican former president Donald Trump; she later conceded on the following day. Had Harris been elected, she would have been the first female and first Asian American president of the United States, as well as the second president who was born in California, after Richard Nixon.
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Background
The first presidential debate, held on June 27, 2024, sparked concerns about then-presumptive Democratic nominee and incumbent President Joe Biden's age and fitness to serve a second term. Following pressure from other Democrats, Biden withdrew from the election on July 21, 2024, and endorsed Harris as his successor.
Campaign
Announcement
On July 21, 2024, Harris announced her intention to run for the Democratic nomination, and the "Biden for President" campaign committee filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to change the name of the committee to "Harris for President". The day the withdrawal was announced, Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue reported raising more than $50 million in the largest single-day donations tally since Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death in 2020.
Platform
Gun control
Harris has expressed support for stricter gun control laws including: red flag laws, universal background checks, revoking certain gun manufacturers licenses, and a prohibition of the sale of assault weapons to civilians, all primarily intended to be implemented by executive actions.
Healthcare
Harris has supported efforts to strengthen coverage under the Affordable Care Act, including setting caps on seniors' out-of-pocket prescription drug prices at $2,000 and limiting the cost of insulin for those on Medicare to $35 enacted as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Harris has been a proponent of White House efforts to ban medical debt from credit reports. Harris has stated she no longer supports a single-payer healthcare system.
Housing
Harris has proposed directing $40 billion in tax incentives to construction companies for building starter homes and sending $25,000 in down-payment assistance to every first-time homebuyer. Harris says she will urge Congress to enforce fair housing laws, pass a bill to bar property owners from using services that coordinate rents through the passage of the Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act, and pass the Stop Predatory Investing Act to remove tax benefits for Wall Street firms that buy up large numbers of single-family homes. Her proposed housing policies are among the first to bring YIMBY ideas to the national political mainstream.
Immigration
Harris has promised to fight for "strong border security" coupled with an earned pathway to citizenship. Following an August 2024 interview, Harris was described by immigration activists as positioning herself to be "tougher on immigration than Trump."
Harris stated she believes the immigration system is "broken" and needs to be fixed, and that she thinks most Americans also believe this. Harris also advocates for stricter asylum rules than president Biden. Her campaign video introduced on July 30, 2024, says, "Kamala Harris supports increasing the number of Border Patrol agents" and paints Trump as unserious on border security.
Minimum wage
Harris supports raising the federal minimum wage. Harris has not given a number for a federal minimum wage she supports. She has posted on Twitter praising that some states have raised the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour.
Social services
Harris has supported the expanded child tax credit enacted in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Harris has expressed support for making child care and elder care more affordable and enacting paid family leave. Harris has also expressed support for student debt relief. On August 16, 2024, Kamala Harris announced the proposal of a $6,000 child tax credit, expanding her populist economic agenda. Other policies including expanding a cap on prescription drug costs and permanently reinstating the expanded child tax credit.
Supreme Court
Harris has supported Biden's call for term limits for Supreme Court justices and a constitutional amendment to reverse its decision in Trump v. United States (2024).
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See also
In Spanish: Campaña presidencial de Kamala Harris de 2024 para niños
