WASHINGTON: Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Tuesday picked California Senator Kamala Harris, whose mother was a Tamilian from Chennai, as his vice-presidential running mate for the 2020 US presidential election. If she’s elected, Harris will make history as not only the first woman to hold the office but also the first person with Asian or African roots to do so. So far, only two other women have vied, unsuccessfully, for the position — Sarah Palin in 2008 and Geraldine Ferraro in 1984.
Harris, 55, who abandoned her own presidential campaign last December citing lack of funds, already has an impressive list of achievements. She became the first black person to serve as California’s attorney general in 2010. She is also one of only three Asian-Americans in the Senate and the first Indian-American ever to serve in the chamber.

Harris is seen as a vote-catcher for Biden. With her Indian-Jamaican parentage, she would be key to drawing black voters to the Democrat fold in an election held against the backdrop of racial tension.
In the 2016 election, 77% of Indian-Americans had voted for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. This time, there are about 1.3 million Indian-American voters, with nearly 200,000 in battleground states like Pennsylvania and 125,000 in Michigan.