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

CHICAGO– CHICAGO (AP) — Kamala Harris has a husband, Doug Emhoff, who could make history as America’s first gentleman wife. Two stepchildren who call her “Momala.” A politically connected sister who is a top adviser and sounding board. A brother-in-law who stepped aside from a top private-sector job to help her get elected. A niece who is the mother of two daughters Harris dotes on. And then there’s her husband’s ex-wife, who defends Harris and Emhoff and their blended family.

They popped up all over Chicago and social media this week at the Democratic National Convention, where Harris will officially accept his party’s presidential nomination.

A look at the members of Harris’ blended family:

He would be America’s First Scoop a gentleman when his wife is elected president.

Emhoff, 59, is already the first second gentleman of the United States and the first Jewish spouse of a U.S. president or vice president. He is a leader of the Biden administration attempts against anti-Semitism. Emhoff gave up a lucrative career as an entertainment and intellectual property lawyer in California to avoid conflicts of interest and support his wife after she became vice president.

In a speech to the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, Emhoff told the story of how he and Harris met on a blind date in 2013; she was then California’s attorney general. They married in 2014, her first marriage and his second. Emhoff has two adult children, Ella and Cole, from a previous marriage, and they call Harris “Momala.”

Ella, 25, is the daughter of Emhoff and his first wife, Kerstin.

Ella is an artist, model, and fashion designer based in New York. Her parents named her after jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. She graduated from The New School’s Parsons School of Design in New York in 2021. She made her debut at the 2021 Met Gala in a red mesh bodysuit and matching pants by Stella McCartney. After her father’s speech at the convention, she showed off a heart figure she made with her hands. Ella recently received backlash after posting a fundraising link to the UN aid and work agency for Palestinian refugees.

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 production company co-founded by Brad Pitt. His parents named him after saxophonist John Coltrane. He introduced his father at the convention Tuesday night as “the glue that holds this family together.” Cole graduated from Colorado College in 2017 with a degree in psychology. Harris officiated when Cole married his girlfriend, Greenley Littlejohn, in October 2023.

Maya, 57, is the vice president’s younger sister and her only sibling. She spoke of her sister’s “fighting spirit” and her instinct to protect those she cares about in a short video shown at the convention. Maya is an attorney, policy advocate, speaker and author who chaired her sister’s 2020 presidential campaign. She then became a national alternate for the Biden-Harris ticket after her sister became Joe Biden’s running mate. In 2016, she was a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Maya lives in California and New York with her husband, Tony West.

West, 59, recently took a leave of absence from his job as Uber’s chief legal officer 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 race for San Francisco district attorney in 2003 and has accompanied her on several recent trips. West, a Stanford University law graduate, was general counsel for PepsiCo before joining Uber in 2017. He served in the Justice Department under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. West and Maya Harris met at Stanford and married in 1998.

Meena, 39, is the daughter of Maya Harris 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 Bay Area, California, with her husband, Nikolas Ajagu, and their daughters Amara, 8, and Leela, 6. The vice president loves to spoil her young nieces and recently took them for ice cream at model Tyra Banks’ new store in Washington, D.C. Meena and the vice president share a birthday on Oct. 20.

Hudlin and Jasper Emhoff and Arden Emhoff spoke about their “aunt” at the convention Wednesday night. Hudlin called her a “baller” and said “she’s going to lift us up.” Jasper Emhoff said Kamala Harris will make time “for what matters,” even though “no one is busier than my aunt.” Arden Emhoff said Harris will treat everyone with respect, because “my aunt made me feel like I was seen, that my words mattered, that I was important and loved, even as a child.”

Kerstin, 57, is a film producer and the 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. Their daughter, Ella, has described the Emhoffs and Harris as a “three-headed parenting machine.” Kerstin has stood up for their blended family, and recently defended Harris after past comments by Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance about “childless cat ladies” running the U.S. government resurfaced. She also defended Doug after he admitted to an extramarital affair that he said contributed to the breakdown of their marriage.

Gopalan was a renowned breast cancer scientist who came to the United States from India at age 19. She received 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 were divorced when Kamala Harris was 7. Gopalan died of cancer in 2009 at age 70.

Donald Harris, 85, became a prominent economist. He was a professor of economics at Stanford University from 1972 to 1998 and is currently a professor emeritus. He also served as an economic adviser to the government of Jamaica and several prime ministers.

Republicans have tried to tie Donald Harris’ 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 options for achieving growth.

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Associated Press editor Josh Boak contributed to this report.