Kamala Harris projected winner of California, giving her 54 electoral votes
Kamala Harris is the projected winner of the State of California.
The projected victory gives Harris 54 electoral votes in the race for 270 against GOP candidate Donald Trump.
If she ends up winning the race, she would be the first female president in the United States’ 248-year history and also the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to hold the office.
Below is a breakdown of some of her plans for California if she is elected President:
Housing
Harris has been an outspoken advocate for affordable housing. As president, she said she plans to make more American homeowners by providing up to $25,000 to first-time homebuyers to help them with their down payment, and provide more financial support for first-generation homeowners.
Gun control and crime
Harris said that as a prosecutor she targeted violent crime by working to get illegal guns off the streets.
Her campaign said as president, she plans to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines, require universal background checks, and support red flag laws in an effort to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.
She also plans to invest in proven gun violence prevention programs that have helped reduce violent crime in the U.S. Her campaign also promised to invest in funding law enforcement and bolster programs to hire, train, and support officers.
Economy
As vice president, Harris worked to help pass major economic legislation including the bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the American Rescue Plan, policies to help rebuild the post-COVID-19 pandemic economy and create jobs in the manufacturing and construction sectors.
Her campaign said as president she would continue to progress the Biden-Harris Administration's efforts to strengthen and build American industries and workers, by supporting U.S. leadership in cutting edge sectors including semiconductors, artificial intelligence and clean energy.
On minimum wage, Harris said she would fight to raise it, while ending the so-called federal "subminimum wage" of $2.13 for tipped workers as well as a subminimum wage for disabled workers. Harris also said she would help establish paid family and medical leave and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers.
Immigration
The Harris-Walz campaign said it believed in tough, smart solutions to secure the border and reform what it called "our broken immigration system,"
As vice president, she supported the bipartisan border security bill, often described by advocates as being the strongest reform in decades. She accused her opponent of lobbying GOP lawmakers to kill the legislation for his political gain.
As President, she promises to bring back the bill and sign it into law.
Harris' background
Harris was born in Oakland, California. Her career began as a prosecutor for Alameda County. She then moved to San Francisco, where she was elected district attorney before serving as California’s attorney general. Her historic rise then sent her to Washington, D.C. to represent the state in the U.S. Senate before becoming America’s first female vice president.
Harris has received the support of many high-profile entertainers, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Taylor Swift, Oprah Winfrey, Meryl Streep, Chris Rock and George Clooney.