Members of Harris’ family are popping up around Chicago this week during the DNC. Here’s who’s who

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

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

A look at the members of Harris’ blended family:

Doug Emhoff: Husband

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

Emhoff, 59, is already the first US second lord and the first Jewish spouse of a US president or vice president. He was a leader of the Biden administration’s efforts against anti-Semitism. Emhoff gave up a lucrative career as an entertainment and intellectual property attorney in California to avoid conflicts of interest and support his wife after she became vice president.

In a speech at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, Emhoff recounted how he and Harris met on a blind date in 2013; she was the attorney general of California at the time. They married in 2014, her first and second marriages. Emhoff has two grown 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 living in New York. Her parents named her after jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. She is a 2021 graduate of New York’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 father’s convention speech, she showed off a heart silhouette made with her hands. Ella recently attracted criticism after posting a fundraising link for the UN Palestine Refugee Agency on a personal social media account.

Cole Emhoff: The stepson

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

Cole is a film assistant and producer at Plan B Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based production company that was co-founded by Brad Pitt. His parents named him after saxophonist John Coltrane. He introduced his father at Tuesday night’s convention as “the glue that holds 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 spoke of her sister’s “fighting spirit” and instinct to protect the people she’s close to in a short video shown during the convention. Maya is an attorney, advocate, speaker, and writer who ran 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, he was a senior adviser to 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 legal director to work on Harris’ campaign. West spoke about his sister-in-law at the convention Wednesday night, telling delegates that she is motivated by “a belief in equal opportunity.” He has advised Harris’ campaigns since her 2003 run for San Francisco district attorney and has accompanied her on several recent trips. A graduate of Stanford University Law School, West was general counsel of PepsiCo before joining Uber in 2017. He served in the Department of Justice 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: Nephews 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 an attorney, 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 years. The vice president loves to pamper his nieces and recently took them out for ice cream at model Tyra Banks’ new store. in Washington, DC, Meena and the Vice President share a birthday on October 20.

Hudlin and Jasper Emhoff and Arden Emhoff talked about their “aunt” at Wednesday night’s convention. Hudlin called her a “bat” and said “she’s going to pick us up.” Jasper Emhoff said Kamala Harris will make time “for what matters,” even though “nobody’s busier than my aunt.” Arden Emhoff said Harris will treat everyone with respect because “even as a child, my aunt made me feel that I was seen, that my words mattered, that I was important and loved.”

Kerstin Emhoff: Doug’s ex-wife, mother of Ella and Cole

Kerstin, 57, is a film producer and co-founder and CEO of a commercial production company and creative studio in California. She is attending the Democratic convention and produced a short introductory film about her ex-husband that was shown before he spoke at the convention Tuesday night, according to her social media posts. Kerstin and Doug married in 1992 and separated in 2009, but remain on good terms. Ella, their daughter, described Emhoff and Harris as a “three-headed parenting machine.” Kerstin has been supportive of their blended family and recently defended Harris after Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance’s earlier comments resurfaced about “childless cat ladies” running the US government. She also defended Doug after he admitted to an extramarital affair that she said contributed to the breakdown of their marriage.

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

Gopalan was a renowned breast cancer scientist who came to the United States from India at age 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 participating in the civil rights movement. They married in 1963 and had two daughters, but divorced when Kamala Harris was 7 years old. Gopalan died of cancer in 2009 at the age of 70.

Donald Harris, 85, has become a prominent economist. He was Professor of Economics at Stanford University from 1972 to 1998, and is currently Professor Emeritus. He was also an economic consultant to the Government of Jamaica and several of its Prime Ministers.

Republicans tried to link Donald Harris’s 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 slant on growth options.

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Associated Press writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.

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