Kamala Harris May Announce Presidential Run on MLK Day

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, widely rumored to be making a 2020 presidential run, is expected to announce her bid on or around Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Oakland, sources told the Bay Area's KCBS Radio.

Harris, a first-term senator and former California attorney general, is a staunch progressive and LGBTQ ally. She has recently released a book about her life and beliefs, The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, and has been on tour to promote it.

On the tour, Harris has deflected questions about a possible run for the Democratic presidential nomination. "But several sources knowledgeable about her plans say she is ready, and has in fact decided to run, with the enthusiastic blessing of her husband and two stepchildren," KCBS reports.

The date and location of her announcement are still being debated, but the plan right now is to make it in Oakland, where she was born and began her law career, on or near the King holiday, which is observed January 21 this year, sources told KCBS.

A spokesperson for Harris told The Hill, though, that she will not be in Oakland that weekend and that no such announcement is planned for the near future. The Advocate has also sought comment from Harris's staff but has yet to receive a response.

Harris did tell Jake Tapper on CNN Wednesday that she will make a decision on the matter soon. The senator, who is of Jamaican and Indian heritage, also told Tapper the nation is ready to have a woman of color as president.

"We have to give the American people more credit, and we have to understand that the American public and the people of our country are smart people, who will make decisions about who will be their leader, based on who they believe is capable, who they believe has an honest desire to lead, to represent, to see them, to be a voice for them even if they have no power," Harris said.

"Those are the kinds of people who we are as a country," she continued. "And so the pundits can talk all day, and all night, and there's a lot of chatter about which demographic will do this or that. It has been my life's experience that the American people are smart and they make decisions about what's in the best interest of their household, their family. and their community. And I have faith that in 2020, and in any other election, that will be their motivation when they vote."