Kamala D. Harris
Bio | Kamala Harris is an American poltician who is a California Senator. He presviously served as the 27th District Attorney of San Francisco and Attorney General of California. |
Status and Position | Current Senator of California |
Political Party and Jurisdiction | Democrat, California |
Elections | Election Jurisdiction | Started Campaign | Campaign Status | Poll Rankings (of the vote) |
| 2020 Presidential Election United States | United States | Yes | Dropped out | N/A |
Campaign Financing | Harris is not accepting campaign contributions from PACs, federal lobbyists, or fossil fuel and pharmaceutical corporations or executives. She has advocated to reform campaign finance laws, but hasn’t been especially specific on which measures she would support, except that she would like to Citizens United overturned. |
Voting Rights | Harris supports several measures to expand voting rights, including proposals to make Election Day a national holiday and to implement automatic voter registration. |
Opinions on Issues
Issues | Stance | Summary |
| Universal Healthcare | Against | Is for Medicare for all, but has said would not take away private option. Harris is a supporter of Medicare-for-All, but does not support proposals to abolish private insurance. If elected, Harris has vowed to take steps to address public health crises such as high maternal mortality rates and the opioid epidemic. As a Senator, she introduced the Maternal CARE Act to reduce high maternal death rates, particularly for women of color, and if elected president, she would support prosecuting pharmaceutical companies for their role in creating the opioid epidemic. |
| Socialized Healthcare | Nuance | Supported the Affordable Care Act but would replace it with Medicare-for-All. |
| Private Healthcare | For | Is for Medicare for all, but has said would not take away private option. |
| LGBT Rights | For | Believes marriage equality is an essential right. Harris is a supporter of LGBT rights, and has endorsed anti-discrimination legislation such as the Equality Act. She has advocated to allow for a non-binary gender option to be included on identification documents and has said that if elected, she would reverse the Trump-era transgender military ban. |
| Taxes | For | Especially supportive of increased taxes on corporations. One of Harris’ top campaign promises is cutting taxes for the middle class, which she says could be paid for by repealing the 2017 corporate tax cuts. However, she is supportive of some forms of increased taxation, particularly on corporations and wealthy individuals. She has also advocated for increased estate taxes. |
| Flat Tax Rate | Against | Supports progressive tax rates. One of Harris’ top campaign promises is cutting taxes for the middle class, which she says could be paid for by repealing the 2017 corporate tax cuts. However, she is supportive of some forms of increased taxation, particularly on corporations and wealthy individuals. She has also advocated for increased estate taxes. |
| Abortion | For | Said she would codify Roe V. Wade protections, and block state restrictions, if elected Harris is a pro-choice candidate who believes that reproductive rights are constitutional rights. She supports Planned Parenthood, and says that if elected, she would take specific measures to ensure that it continues to be eligible to receive federal funds. She would also nominate pro-choice judges to federal courts and fight to ensure access to contraception for low-income women. |
| Gun Control | For | Supportive of an assualt weapons ban and universal background checks. Harris has committed to using executive action to instate gun control measures if Congress doesn’t do so first within the first 100 days of her presidency. She supports policies including universal background checks, bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and restrictions that would prohibit anyone who has been convicted of committing a hate crime from purchasing firearms. |
| Assisted Suicide | Against | When asked if it should be allowed she said, “No.” Harris has committed to using executive action to instate gun control measures if Congress doesn’t do so first within the first 100 days of her presidency. She supports policies including universal background checks, bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and restrictions that would prohibit anyone who has been convicted of committing a hate crime from purchasing firearms. |
| Government Interference | For | Believes in gun control and environmental regulation. |
| Planned Parenthood | For | Believes Planned Parenthood provides essential healthcare services for women. |
| Welfare | For | She supports welfare. Would expand the Earned Income Tax Credit program. |
| Welfare | Unknown | Has not made any public statements on the issue. |
| Death Penalty | Against | Harris opposes the death penalty. Would abolish the death penalty. |
| Mandatory Prison Sentence | Against | Has called mandatory minimum laws 'unfair'. |
| Military Spending | Against | Would make cuts to the defense budget. |
| War on Terrorism | Against | Supports withdrawing troops from the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. |
| Foreign Policy International Interaction | For | Would recommit to global institutions and alliances. |
| United Nations power | For | Supports UN initiatives to stop climate change. |
| Nationalism | Against | Has criticized Trump's nationalist tactics and made comments explicitly condemning nationalism. |
| Free Markets | For | Said, “I believe in capitalism, the free markets, and the private economy.” Harris has a mixed record on trade. She has been critical of protectionist trade measures enacted by the Trump Administration, but has also expressed dissatisfaction with free-trade agreements such as the TPP. She stands out as neither pro-trade or anti-trade. |
| Brexit | Unknown | Has not been vocal on the issue. |
| Affirmative Action | For | As Attorney General of California, she pursued legal challenges to attempts to dismantle affirmative action programs. |
| Government Spending | For | Supports increasing government spending on social programs, but not defense. |
| Charter Schools | Nuance | Has voted for legislation that would impose more restrictions on charter schools, but has not been vocal on her stance on defunding them. |
| Common Core | For | But would make adjustments to the implementation of the standards. Harris believes that some steps ought to be taken to reduce cost-barriers to quality education. She believes that community colleges should be tuition-free and that four-year colleges and universities should be debt free. She has also released a plan to substantially increase the pay of K-12 public school teachers. |
| Clean Energy | For | Co-sponsored the Green New Deal. Believes the US should increase use of sustainable energy sources. Co-sponsored the Green New Deal. Unlike several other Democratic candidates, Harris has not released a comprehensive plan to combat climate change. She has, however, expressed support for the Green New Deal and indicated an intention to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement if elected. Harris has received a 100% lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters, indicating a commitment to enforcing environmental regulations. She has expressed specific intention to reinstate the environmental regulations that were loosened by the Trump Administration |
| Religious Freedom | Against | Has been criticized for supporting policies that have been percieved to infringe on religious freedom. Harris has been criticized for her support of policies that have restricted religious freedom, such as one that banned Sikh prison guards from keeping beards for religious reasons. She does not believe that religious freedom should be used as a justification for discrimination, and introduced the ‘Do No Harm Act’ in Congress to amend the Religious Freedom Restoration Act so that would no longer include protections for discrimination. Also, believes that the government has the power to force non-discriminatory actions despite religious beliefs. This includes mandating and providing religious service to all, as well as providing contraceptives to all employees. |
| Separation of Church and State | For | Believes there should be separation between church and state. |
| Slavery Reparations | Nuance | Appears hesitant, but has expressed openness to the idea. |
| Border Control | Against | Opposes a border wall, would instead allocate resources to secure ports of entry against threats of trafficking. Supports a pathway to citizenship, would increase oversight of immigration agencies. Has introduced pieces of legislation that would prevent presidents from limiting refugee intake. Harris supports increasing protections for immigrants, both documented and not. She has called Trump’s immigration policies ‘inhumane,’ and has been especially critical of the Administration’s measures to remove protections for DREAMers and continue the practice of family separation. If elected, Harris would pursue policy that would provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants residing in the United States and restore DACA and DAPA protections. She would also increase oversight on ICE and CBP to prevent human rights abuses. As a Senator, Harris was extremely encouraging of legal immigration, and introduced legislation that would prevent presidents from limiting refugee intake. While she does support ensuring border security, she believes that a wall would be ineffective, and would instead allocated resources to secure ports of entry against threats of trafficking. |
| Passenger Profiling | Nuance | Is an advocate for reducing racial inequality, but as Attorney General of California, did little to support regulations that would reduce profiling in policing. |
| DACA | For | Would grant citizenship to DREAMers. |
| Sanctuary Cities | For | Believes that sanctuary cities should be protected, but has been criticized for not doing enough to protect undocumented immigrants living in sanctuary cities while Attorney General of California. |
| Legalizing Marijuana | For | Harris supports the legalization of marijuana and believes that marijuana-related offenses should be expunged. |