Who is Kamala Harris’ husband? Everything to know about Doug Emhoff
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff has been a proud supporter of his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, throughout her campaign for presidency.
In the only scheduled presidential debate between Harris and former President Donald Trump as of now, the candidates will square off against one another at 9 p.m. ET in Philadelphia on Sept. 10. The debate, hosted by ABC News, will not include a live audience.
The second gentleman has publicly shown his support for Harris during several recent appearances, from the Democratic National Convention to the packed rally where Harris announced Tim Walz as her running mate, both of which happened in August 2024.
Emhoff, the first man to hold the title of second gentleman in U.S. history, was a successful attorney in his own right prior to turning his duties to serving the country alongside Harris. The vice president is a stepmom to Emhoff's two kids, Cole and Ella, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff.
Read on to learn more about Harris’ husband of 10 years, second gentleman Doug Emhoff.
Doug Emhoff took the stage at the DNC
At the Democratic National Convention in August, Emhoff gave a moving speech, during which he celebrated his “big, beautiful, blended family” in the stands and gave his parents a shoutout.
“My mother is the only person in the whole world who thinks Kamala is the lucky one for marrying me,” he quipped.
He reminisced about how he awkwardly asked Harris out — with a long, rambling voicemail she saved and makes him listen to every anniversary — and how on their first date, he warned her about his driving.
“Buckle up, I’m a really bad driver,” he recalled telling Harris. “You can’t hide anything from Kamala Harris so you might as well own it.”
Emhoff also celebrated the role Harris plays in his family as a stepmom to Cole and Ella, whom he shares with ex-wife Kerstin Emhoff.
He said Ella calls the three co-parents a “three-headed parenting machine,” and even though blending their families was “a little complicated,” they always knew everything would be OK.
“She’s always been there for our children and I know she’ll always be there for yours, too,” he said.
“Kamala Harris was exactly the right person for me at an important moment of my life,” he concluded. “And at this moment in our nation’s history, she is exactly the right president.”
Doug Emhoff initially missed the news his wife was running for president
In a video shared on July 29, Emhoff told the story of how he initially missed the news that his wife would be running for president of the United States after President Joe Biden decided not to seek re-election.
He said he had a free morning in Los Angeles on July 21 and "thought I’d just go to an exercise-cycling class with some friends of mine,” he recalled at a recent event for Harris’ campaign.
"I left my phone in the car with the (security) detail. So I was there for 20 minutes or so, and all of a sudden one of the friends shows me his phone and said, 'I think you need to look at this," he said.
"And then I said to the guys, 'We got to go!'" he concluded as the crowd laughed.
In the video caption, Emhoff joked, "Never leaving my phone in the car again."
Emhoff included more specifics about that day when he made an appearance on an organizing call for gay and queer Black men July 25, Los Angeles Times reported.
In it, he added that he was having coffee with his friends after the cycling class before the announcement came through.
"Of course I didn’t have my phone, so I ran and ran and got into our car, and of course my phone is just on fire, and it’s basically, ‘Call Kamala,’ ‘Call Kamala,’ ‘Call Kamala,’ from everyone," he said. "And of course, the first thing she said was, ‘Where the ... were you? I need you."
Doug Emhoff met Kamala Harris on a blind date
Emhoff and Harris, both 59, met on a blind date in 2013, back when Harris was the attorney general of California, and they tied the knot the following year.
When Harris became the first woman to be elected vice president in 2020, Emhoff also made history by becoming the nation’s first second gentleman.
Emhoff has been vocal about how he supports his wife, both as her husband and as second gentleman.
“She’s the vice president of the United States, first woman to ever hold this role, and I’m her husband. So, how can I be a better husband?” he told Esquire in January 2024.
“How can I help her get through her day so she can do her job, which is 24/7, 365? A lot of what she does is public, but a lot of what she does is also very hard work behind the scenes,” he continued. “So, again, it’s how can I be helpful to her, make her day easier, take things off her plate around the house so she can fulfill these intense duties that she has?”
Doug Emhoff was born in New York City
Emhoff was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Matawan, New Jersey, according to his official bio on the White House's website.
When he was a teenager, his parents, Mike and Barbara Emhoff, as well as his siblings, Jamie and Andy, moved to Los Angeles, per the website.
Emhoff earned his undergraduate degree from California State University, Northridge before graduating with a J.D. from University of Southern California Gould School of Law., according to the website.
Before Harris was elected, Emhoff was a lawyer for about three decades. As a partner at the corporate firm Venable, his clients included the pharmaceutical company Merck and the arms dealer Dolorian Capital, according to The New York Times.
At Venable, Emhoff also notably represented Taco Bell’s former advertising agency in a long-running dispute involving the fast food company’s iconic chihuahua mascot.
He became a partner at the leading law firm DLA Piper in 2017. In one case at DLA Piper, he represented Mauricio Umansky of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” fame in a real estate dispute, according to The New York Times.
Emhoff took a leave of absence from DLA Piper when Harris became Biden’s running mate, and he left the firm altogether after his wife became vice president, Reuters reported in 2020.
Soon after becoming second gentleman, Emhoff began teaching law courses as a Distinguished Visitor from Practice at the Georgetown University Law Center.
According to his Georgetown Law bio, Emhoff was known throughout his career “for tackling and resolving the toughest problems — whether by litigating high-stakes cases or acting as a trusted advisor in complex disputes with an emphasis on media, entertainment, and Intellectual Property matters.”
As second gentleman, Doug Emhoff has advocated for equality in the legal system, women’s rights, and other causes
In his role as second gentleman, Emhoff has focused on a number of causes, including advocating for “access to legal aid and removing barriers — legal, social, and financial — to ensure that every person can get the help they need to arrive at justice,” according to his bio on the White House's website.
He has also spoken out about gender equity and reproductive rights.
In a recent Instagram post, Emhoff called the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade “an assault on women’s reproductive rights and our democracy.”
“It’s wrong, it’s immoral, and it’s on all of us to stand up and defend our freedoms,” he wrote in the caption.
Emhoff has also supported LGBTQIA+ causes, and recently shared Instagram photos of himself marching in the DC Pride parade.
Emhoff has traveled widely since becoming second gentleman, meeting with families, business owners and community leaders around the U.S. and in several countries, according to his bio on the White House's website.
Speaking to Esquire in January, Emhoff opened up about his dual roles of supporting Harris both as a husband, and as second gentleman.
“That can take various forms, whether it’s speaking out against antisemitism and hate, speaking in favor of gender equity, access to legal justice and some of the other more substantive areas that I’ve taken on” he said.
“Otherwise it’s just doing what’s asked,” he continued. “I’m traveling to Davos tomorrow, for instance, so it’s a mixed bag. But it’s all geared towards one, supporting her as her husband and then, supporting her and the administration as second gentleman.”
Doug Emhoff has a special focus on fighting antisemitism
Emhoff is the first Jewish spouse of a U.S. vice president or president, and he often speaks out against antisemitism and hosts events and discussions related to the topic.
“No one should have to live in fear because of who they are,” he said in a May 2023 address at the White House, as the Biden-Harris administration launched the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.
“As the first Jewish spouse of a United States President or Vice President, let me say this: we cannot stay silent," he continued. "I will not remain silent. I will not stand idly by and allow antisemitism to poison our society.”
He noted that his great-grandparents had “escaped persecution from what is now Poland around 120 years ago,” and reflected on the personal significance of traveling to Poland for Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Emhoff has hosted numerous events focused on Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism.
In May 2024, he invited college students who are descendants of Holocaust survivors to share their stories at the White House, and later met with Holocaust survivors.
Emhoff also shared excerpts on Instagram of his November 2023 meeting with Jewish community leaders in the United Kingdom.
“Since October 7, there has been a worldwide increase in antisemitic incidents, including in the United Kingdom. I know people are afraid,” he captioned his Nov. 2 post.
“My message to Jewish community leaders, at home and abroad, is this: Don’t be afraid. We must continue to celebrate our Judaism and push back with joy,” he wrote.
Doug Emhoff has two children from a previous marriage
Emhoff has two children, Cole, 29, and Ella, 25, from his previous marriage to film producer Kerstin Emhoff, née Mackin.
Harris opened up in a 2019 essay for Elle about how she and Emhoff have shaped their blended family, saying they “took it slow” when it came to her meeting his children.
“As a child of divorce, I knew how hard it could be when your parents start to date other people,” Harris wrote. “And I was determined not to insert myself in their lives until Doug and I had established we were in this for the long haul.”
Harris and Emhoff’s kids ended up hitting it off, and rather than calling her “stepmom,” Cole and Ella affectionately refer to her “Momala.”
“They are brilliant, talented, funny kids who have grown to be remarkable adults,” Harris wrote in her 2019 essay. “I was already hooked on Doug, but I believe it was Cole and Ella who reeled me in.”
Emhoff has shouted out his son and daughter on social media over the years.
“Nothing like a game of pickleball with Cole during Father’s Day weekend,” he wrote on Instagram in June.
Emhoff also celebrated his daughter when she graduated from Parsons School of Design in 2021.
“My darling Ella, we are such proud parents!” he wrote in the caption. “We love you so much, and are very much looking forward to all you do in the future.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
