--- ---  # 7 Things You Need To Know About Kamala Harris  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 13, 2015 3:43 PM UTC  Kamala Harris is the current attorney general of California. Kamala Harris is the current attorney general of California.Jason Merritt—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 13, 2015 3:43 PM UTC Kamala Harris will launch her campaign Tuesday for the Senate seat from California, making her the first candidate in [a large potential pool](http://time.com/3624292/barbara-boxer-california-resign-replacements/) to officially step forward to replace retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer. (California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom [announced Monday](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/01/12/newsom-will-not-run-for-boxer-seat-in-california/) that he won’t be running.) Here are 7 important things to know about the current Attorney General of California: **1\.** As the daughter of an African-American father and an Indian mother, Harris is the first female, first African-American and first Asian-American Attorney General in California’s history. **2\.** President Obama once called her “[the best-looking attorney-general in the country](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/04/04/obama-calls-kamala-harris-the-best-looking-attorney-general/%20)” – and was then forced to apologize for being sexist. **3\.** When she worked in the Alameda County District Attorney’s office for eight years after law school, Harris specialized in prosecuting child sexual assault cases. **4\.** She got her undergraduate degree from Howard University, a historically black college in Washington, D.C. **5\.** She worked on Jesse Jackson’s campaign for President in the 1980s and had a “Jesse Jackson For President” bumper sticker [on her car](http://www.superlawyers.com/california-northern/article/Brilliant-Careers/e8902c40-542b-40e4-89a5-58a2e181b36f.html%20). **6\.** She was floated as a possible Supreme Court nominee if another seat opened up during Obama’s time in office. **7\.** Her name means “lotus flower” in Sanskrit. 7 Things You Need To Know About Kamala Harris ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3665461/kamala-harris-senate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3665461/kamala-harris-senate/"},"headline":"7 Things You Need To Know About Kamala Harris","datePublished":"2015-01-13T15:43:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:31:44.733Z","description":"Kamala Harris will launch her campaign Tuesday to replace Barbara Boxer in her Senate seat from California.","url":"https://time.com/3665461/kamala-harris-senate/","keywords":["2016 Election","California","2016 Election topic","Senate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf87e0af22114d4d/69876d7e5f570f4371b140e4/kamala-harris.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf87e0af22114d4d/69876d7e5f570f4371b140e4/kamala-harris.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2014 Variety Power Of Women Presented By Lifetime - Show","caption":"2014 Variety Power Of Women Presented By Lifetime - Show","creditText":"Jason Merritt—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3665461/kamala-harris-senate/","name":"7 Things You Need To Know About Kamala Harris"}}]}] ```