US Senator Kamala Harris is expected to announce her candidacy for the White House on or after January 21, which is observed as Martin Luther King Day in memory of the leader of the Civil Rights Movement.
Harris, who is of mixed African American and Indian American heritage, had indicated earlier she would decide about the run during the past holidays. Though she hasn’t yet, she is widely expected to and her ongoing tour to promote her new book, “The Truths We Hold: An American Journey”, is adding to the speculation.
She has been reported putting together the logistics of the campaign such as selecting a site for her announcement, the headquarters and the personnel.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday, citing sources, that the California senator could announce her run on MLK Day or after, but, it added, the exact date is still being worked out.
According to earlier reports she is considering basing her campaign headquarter in Baltimore or Atlanta, both black-majority cities.
Harris stands to make history when she does announce her run — as the both the first African American woman and the first Indian American woman to run for the White House. She is of African American descent on her father’s side — he came from Jamaica — and Indian American on mother’s side.
Bobby Jindal, the erstwhile Republican governor of Louisiana, was the first Indian American to run for the White House. He couldn’t make it through the primaries, which was won by President Donald Trump. And Nikki Haley, the former US ambassador to the United States, could become the next Indian American to run for the top job, after Harris.
There is a long, and growing, list of Democrats planning to take on and stop President Donald Trump in 2020. Senator Elizabeth Warren was the first off the block, announcing an exploratory committee earlier this month.
First Published: Jan 11, 2019 00:05 IST
Source: HindustanTimes