Harris’ Family Members are Popping up around Chicago This Week during the DNC. Here’s Who’s Who

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press

10:22 JST, August 23, 2024

CHICAGO (AP) — Kamala Harris has a husband, Doug Emhoff, who could make history as America’s first gentleman spouse. Two stepchildren who call her “Momala.” A politically connected sister who is a top adviser and sounding board. A brother-in-law who temporarily stepped away from a top private sector gig to help elect her. A niece who is the mother of two daughters that Harris dotes on. There’s also her husband’s ex-wife, who defends Harris and Emhoff and their blended family.

They’ve been popping up around Chicago and on social media this week during the Democratic National Convention, where Harris will formally accept the party’s presidential nomination.

A look at members of Harris’ blended family:

Doug Emhoff: Husband

He would become America’s first first gentleman if his wife is elected president.

Emhoff, 59, is already the first second gentleman of the U.S. and the first Jewish spouse of a U.S. president or vice president. He has been a leader of the Biden administration’s efforts against antisemitism. Emhoff gave up a lucrative career as an entertainment and intellectual property lawyer in California to avoid conflicts of interest and support his wife after she became vice president.

In a speech to the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, Emhoff told the story of how he and Harris met on a blind date in 2013; she was California’s attorney general at the time. They wed in 2014, her first marriage and his second. Emhoff has two adult children, Ella and Cole, from a previous marriage and they call Harris “Momala.”

Ella Emhoff: Stepdaughter

Ella, 25, is the daughter of Emhoff and his first wife, Kerstin.

Ella is an artist, model and fashion designer who lives in New York. Her parents named her after jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. She’s a 2021 graduate of The New School’s Parsons School of Design in New York. She made her debut at the annual Met Gala in 2021 in a red mesh bodysuit and matching pants by Stella McCartney. After her dad’s convention speech, she flashed a heart figure made with her hands. Ella recently drew criticism after posting on a personal social media account a fundraising link to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees.

Cole Emhoff: Stepson

Cole, 29, is the son of Emhoff and his former wife.

Cole is a film assistant and producer at Plan B Entertainment, a production company in Los Angeles that was co-founded by Brad Pitt. His parents named him after saxophonist John Coltrane. He introduced his father to the convention on Tuesday night as “the glue that keeps this family together.” Cole graduated from Colorado College in 2017 with a degree in psychology. Harris officiated in October 2023 when Cole married longtime girlfriend Greenley Littlejohn.

Maya Harris: Sister

Maya, 57, is the vice president’s younger sister and her only sibling. She talked about her sister’s “fighting spirit” and instinct to protect the people she’s close to in a brief video shown during the convention. Maya is a lawyer, policy advocate, speaker and writer who chaired her sister’s 2020 presidential campaign. She then became a national surrogate for the Biden-Harris ticket after her sister became Joe Biden’s running mate. In 2016, she was a senior adviser for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Maya lives in California and New York with her husband, Tony West.

Tony West: Brother-in-law

West, 59, recently went on leave from his job as Uber’s chief legal officer to work on Harris’ campaign. West spoke about his sister-in-law at the convention on Wednesday night, telling delegates that she is motivated “by a belief in equal opportunity.” He has advised Harris’ campaigns since her race for San Francisco district attorney in 2003, and has accompanied her on some recent trips. A graduate of Stanford University law school, West was general counsel of PepsiCo before he joined Uber in 2017. He served in the Justice Department under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. West and Maya Harris met at Stanford and married in 1998.

Meena Harris, Alexander Hudlin, Jasper Emhoff, Arden Emhoff: Nieces and Nephews

Meena, 39, is Maya Harris’ daughter from a previous relationship. She is the founder and CEO of Phenomenal, a consumer and media company. Meena is also a lawyer, author and theater producer who worked on her aunt’s 2020 presidential campaign. She lives in the California Bay Area with her husband, Nikolas Ajagu, and their daughters Amara, 8, and Leela, 6. The vice president likes to dote on her young nieces and recently took them for ice cream at model Tyra Banks’ new shop in Washington, D.C. Meena and the vice president share an Oct. 20 birthday.

Hudlin and Jasper Emhoff and Arden Emhoff spoke about their “auntie” at the convention on Wednesday night. Hudlin called her a “baller” and said “she’ll lift us up.” Jasper Emhoff said Kamala Harris will make time “for what matters” even though “no one is busier than my auntie.” Arden Emhoff said Harris will treat everyone with respect because, “even as a kid, auntie made me feel that I was seen, that my words are important, that I am important and loved.”

Kerstin Emhoff: Doug’s former wife, Ella and Cole’s mother

Kerstin, 57, is a film producer and co-founder and CEO of a commercial production company and a creative studio in California. She is attending the Democratic convention and produced a short introductory film about her former husband that was shown before he spoke at the convention on Tuesday night, according to her social media posts. Kerstin and Doug married in 1992 and split in 2009, but remain on good terms. Ella, their daughter, has described the Emhoffs and Harris as a “three-headed parenting machine.” Kerstin has stood up for their blended family and recently defended Harris after Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance’s previous comments resurfaced about “childless cat ladies” who run the U.S. government. She also defended Doug after he acknowledged an extramarital affair that he said contributed to the breakup of their marriage.

Shyamala Gopalan and Donald Harris: Kamala’s and Maya’s parents

Gopalan was a renowned breast cancer scientist who came to the United States from India at 19. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1964. She and Donald Harris, who was born in Jamaica, met there as graduate students who participated in the civil rights movement. They got married in 1963 and had two daughters, but had divorced by the time Kamala Harris was 7. Gopalan died of cancer in 2009 at age 70.

Donald Harris, 85, became a prominent economist. He was an economics professor at Stanford University from 1972 to 1998, and currently is a professor emeritus. He also was an economic consultant to the government of Jamaica and several of its prime ministers.

Republicans have tried to tie Donald Harris’ writings on Marxist theories to their own false claims that the vice president is a communist. But his academic work also had a more pragmatic bent about options for achieving growth.