WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Sunday endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the new Democratic presidential nominee, passing the torch to the California native who has led government initiatives on reproductive rights and gun control.

Harris, 59, is a former U.S. senator from California who ran for her party’s presidential nomination in the 2020 primaries. She represents a new generation at the top of the ticket after Biden, 81, withdrew from the race under pressure from Democratic leaders following a disastrous performance at a debate in late June.

Harris, the nation’s first female vice president, now has a shot at becoming the first female president, depending on what Democrats decide. She is also the first Black vice president and the first person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president.

Some in the party publicly mentioned her as a possible replacement for Biden after the debate. Biden initially refused to end his reelection bid despite growing calls from within the Democratic Party to step aside. He withdrew on Sunday.

“Today I want to give my full support and endorsement to Kamala to be our party’s nominee this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and defeat Trump. Let’s do this,” Biden said in a Sunday post on X.

During her time as vice president, Harris became a leading voice in the administration’s fight for reproductive rights and abortion access — often seen as Democrats’ strongest issue since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, ending nearly half a century of federal constitutional rights to abortion.

Harris launched a “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour in early 2024, visiting several swing states. And after touring a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota, Harris became the first sitting president or vice president to tour an abortion clinic.

Harris has also focused on gun safety during her vice presidency. She announced in March the launch of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center to help states, local governments and others “optimize the use of red flag laws,” according to the White House.

She also called on states to pass so-called red flag laws, which allow law enforcement to petition civilian courts to seize firearms from people who may pose a danger to themselves or others. She also invoked Bipartisan Safer Communities Act funding to “help implement laws that have already been passed.”

The administration championed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which Biden signed into law in June 2022. The measure was seen as the most comprehensive federal gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years.

She is also a fierce opponent, along with Biden and other Democrats, of Project 2025 — the nearly 900-page document from the Heritage Foundation that proposes a sweeping conservative agenda if former President Donald J. Trump is elected. Though Trump has distanced himself from the platform, some former members of his administration have worked on it.

Harris has also faced criticism from both sides of the aisle for her efforts on immigration, with Biden asking her in 2021 to help address the “root causes” of migration in Central America.

In June 2021, she visited the U.S.-Mexico border, following visits to Guatemala and Mexico earlier that month. It was her first international trip as vice president.

Republicans have repeatedly called her a “border czar” despite her focus on the “root causes” of migration in Central American countries.

At the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida was among the speakers who called her a “border czar,” adding that “appointing Kamala Harris to oversee the border is like appointing Bernie Madoff to oversee your pension plan.”

Harris also holds the record for the highest number of tie-breaking votes in the U.S. Senate.

Public Opinion Polls and Perception

Since the aftermath of the June 27 debate, several polls have produced mixed results on whether voters would choose Harris over Trump if the two were running against each other.

An Economist/YouGov poll conducted July 13-16 found both Harris and Biden narrowly behind Trump, with Biden slightly ahead of Harris.

Only 39% said they would vote for Harris, compared to 44% who would vote for Trump. Likewise, 41% said they would vote for Biden, compared to 43% who chose Trump.

By mid-July, her approval ratings also appeared low, with 50.4% of Americans disapproving of her and 38.6% approving of her.

California Background

Before becoming vice president, Harris served as a senator from California from 2017 to 2021. She has a long career in law enforcement, having served as attorney general of California and district attorney of San Francisco.

Harris ran for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential election, but withdrew her candidacy months later and endorsed Biden. She withdrew before the Iowa caucuses and ended her candidacy in December 2019, despite initially being seen as a leading Democratic contender.

She was born in Oakland, California, in 1964 to immigrant parents. She is married to Doug Emhoff, who is the first Jewish spouse of a U.S. president or vice president, according to the White House. He is also the first second gentleman in U.S. history.

Harris is a former student of Howard University, a historically black institution, and received her law degree from the University of California, Hastings.