As presumptive Democractic presidential nominee Joe Biden was choosing his running mate, many commentators warned about sexist and racist coverage of his eventual pick for Vice President. Now that he has chosen Sen. Kamala Harris, we thought it would be interesting to look back at some of her first appearances in national media, based on a Lexis Nexis search.
Man gets life for scalping girlfriend
First appearance, Washington Post / Sept. 30, 1996
“A man who scalped his girlfriend with a kitchen knife was sentenced to life in prison. Frankie Vanloock, 33, allegedly had tried once before to scalp her but was foiled by a dull blade. ‘It is appropriate for what he did,’ prosecutor Kamala Harris said of the sentence on Friday. ‘The manner in which this crime was committed was incredibly sadistic.’ “
Killing of officer stirs death penalty debate
First appearance, New York Times / June 12, 2004
“Opinion polls show that San Franciscans overwhelmingly oppose the death penalty, and in her winning campaign for district attorney last fall, Kamala D. Harris made no secret of her strong opposition as well. But the killing of a police officer here has placed capital punishment at the center of a political and emotional storm that has some asking whether a different standard should be applied in the case of law enforcement officials killed on the job.”
Ones to watch outside the beltway
First appearance, Politico / July 9, 2009
“Even in California, a state with a deep and diverse bench of Democratic talent, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris stands out. A two-term prosecutor whose innovative approach to law enforcement has made her a rising star in progressive politics, she is both the state’s first female African-American district attorney and the nation’s first Indian-American district attorney.”