A blind date to culminate in a wedding.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: This year is turning out to be a big one for California Attorney General Kamala Harris – in addition to seeking re-election this November, she announced earlier this week that she is now engaged to be married.
Harris got engaged to attorney Douglas Emhoff, a partner-in-charge at the Venable LLP law firm in Los Angeles, on March 27th, according to her communications director, David Beltran. Both she and Emhoff are 49, and in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Harris said that she and Emhoff have been dating for about a year.
Emhoff, who is older than Harris by just a week, is originally from New York, and earned his J.D. at the University of Southern California. He currently specializes in dispute negotiation and resolution for his law firm, one of the most renowned in the L.A. area.
He and Harris met through a mutual acquaintance, who set up a blind date for them. According to Harris, Emhoff’s brains and sense of humor ultimately won her over, said the Chronicle. Once married, the couple plans to split their time between her home city of San Francisco, and his residence in southern California.
There is no word yet on when the actual wedding will take place, but it likely won’t until after November – Harris will have her hands full running for re-election.
Half-Indian and half-Jamaican, Harris is the first woman, the first person of south Asian descent, and the first person of Caribbean descent, to be California’s Attorney General. She won election in 2010, in a narrow race which saw her win by just 1% of the total votes. This time, however, things are expected to play out more favorably for Harris, as the Republican Party is not as strong in the state of California as it was four years ago.
During her term in the Attorney General’s office, Harris was instrumental in negotiating concessions from five of the top banks in the US for a nation-wide mortgage settlement in the aftermath of the recession, and was also a key architect on the JPMorgan Chase settlement that saw the company pay nearly $300 million for the state’s employee and teacher pension fund. Prior to her historic stint as the state’s Attorney General, Harris served two terms as the District Attorney for San Francisco.
Should Harris win re-election this year, as several analysts expect, it may pave the way for a future run at higher political office. Several pundits have speculated that Harris could contend for a seat in the House of Representatives or the US Senate at some point over the next decade.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com