Watch Kamala Harris Announce Her Run for the Presidency

The California senator chose Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to make it official.

Neal Broverman

Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.

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Neal Broverman

January 21 2019 1:15 PM EST

May 31 2023 7:48 PM EST

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Senator Kamala Harris, a California Democrat, announced her candidacy for president on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and nearly 50 years after Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman to seek the highest office.

Harris didn't mention Donald Trump's name in her announcement video, posted Monday morning on Twitter. The pro-LGBTQ junior senator and former California attorney general featured an inclusive message, highlighting words like "truth, justice, decency, equality."

\u201cI'm running for president. Let's do this together. Join us: https://t.co/9KwgFlgZHA\u201d
— Kamala Harris (@Kamala Harris) 1548074103

Harris has made a name for herself as a fierce interrogator of Republicans that appear before her on the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence; she also refused to let Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh skate by during his contentious confirmation hearings. Harris will compete for the Democratic nomination with other LGBTQ allies like Senator Elizabeth Warren and former Housing and Urban Development Director Julian Castro.