Doug Emhoff Readies for His Big Moment

Doug Emhoff is known for his cheesy dad jokes and being a superfan of his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris. This month, a photo of him smiling slyly at age 20 ping-ponged across the Internet—so has video from 2021 of him blowing kisses to Harris from the gallery of the House chamber. 

But for a lot of Americans, when the Second Gentleman of the United States takes the stage at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night, it will be the first time they’ve heard him speak at length on a national stage.

Emhoff has emerged as a helpful voice on the campaign trail for Harris, and a strong fundraiser. But despite being the first ever male spouse of a President or Vice President and the first Jewish one, he’s kept somewhat of a low profile. With his primetime appearance in Chicago on the same night as headliner Barack Obama, the Harris campaign hopes to change that and harness the likability that has long served him well with donors to energize voters to go to the polls.

“He is extremely affable. He brings energy. It’s another person that can go out and be a surrogate throughout the country and raise money,” says Rodell Mollineau, a Democratic strategist. Having a dynamic spouse who is willing to campaign, notes Mollineau, gives Harris an advantage over Trump, whose wife is rarely seen on the campaign trail and didn’t speak at this year’s Republican National Convention. “We know that Melania Trump won’t do that,” he says. 

During his four years as Second Gentleman, Emhoff has been the subject of a few viral moments but has largely avoided controversy. “Being a lawyer comes in handy,” he told TIME in 2021. “I’ve been very cognizant of what comes out of my mouth.”

Emhoff, 59, was raised in New Jersey and moved to California when he was a teenager. After graduating from California State University, Northridge in 1987, he studied law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. For the next three decades, he had a high-powered career in corporate law that focused on representing companies in media, entertainment and intellectual property cases. 

Harris and Emhoff met in 2013 on a blind date while she was California’s Attorney General. They were married a year later. When Harris became Vice President, he quit his corporate law job and started teaching at Georgetown Law. 

Emhoff has two children with his first wife, Kerstin Emhoff, a film producer. The two divorced after 16 years of marriage. Harris helped parent Emhoff’s two children, Cole and Ella, who call her “Momala.”

Emhoff’s distinction as the first Jewish spouse of a U.S. President or Vice President is not one he takes lightly. As Second Gentleman, he has rallied Jewish leaders around discussions on combating antisemitism in the U.S. He has also spoken out on Israel’s right to defend itself from terrorism. Speaking to Jewish leaders at the White House last year after the Oct. 7 attacks, Emhoff said, “It was a terrorist assault, and there is never any justification for terrorism. There are no two sides to this issue.”

Since Harris became the presidential candidate, Emhoff has stepped up his campaigning and fundraising. He has recently attended fundraisers and campaign stops in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., and Fire Island, NY, as well as Maine and Wisconsin. 

The Harris campaign sees Emhoff as the Vice President’s most powerful advocate, who can help connect audiences to the Harris he knows behind the scenes, says a campaign aide. And along with continuing to talk about antisemitism on the campaign trail, he will also talk about reproductive rights and why the issue is as important to men as women, the aide says. 

At fundraisers in recent weeks, Emhoff has been quick to repeat the story of how he missed calls from Harris on the Sunday morning President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. He was in an exercise class in Los Angeles and having coffee with friends. His phone was in the car. When he called Harris, an hour later, she said, “I need you.”

In his Tuesday speech, he has a chance to deliver.