Kamala Harris has picked Baltimore as headquarters for presidential bid

She picked the city because of its diversity: newspaper

The U.S.’s first Indian-origin Senator, Kamala Harris, has picked Baltimore as headquarters for her potential 2020 presidential campaign, a report in The Baltimore Sun said.

Ms. Harris, 54, who recently came out with two books including one for children, has not officially announced a bid. But reports in mainstream U.S. media suggest that the announcement may happen soon.

Proximity to Washington
Ms. Harris picked Baltimore because of its diversity, its proximity to Washington and because it is in the Eastern time zone, said the report, quoting sources who requested anonymity because Ms. Harris has not yet announced her plans.

Ms. Harris endorsed Ben Jealous last year during his unsuccessful campaign for Maryland Governor’s office. She also appeared in 2017 at a conference organised by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), where she had called for criminal justice reform.

The Senator’s office declined to comment on the report. “It’s the right choice,” said Krish Vignarajah, a former Democratic gubernatorial candidate, told Baltimore Sun.

“The race ought to focus on the future of cities like Baltimore. And Senator Harris is incredibly inspiring — hard not to love a strong, vertically challenged woman of color!”

Ms. Harris, 54, is of Jamaican and Indian descent. She was elected in 2016 to the Senate after serving as California’s Attorney-General from 2011 to 2017.

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, the first ever Hindu elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, is among the several Democratic leaders to have made announcements on a presidential bid so far. Senator Elizabeth Warren has launched an exploratory effort for a possible run.

Other possible candidates include former Vice-President Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Senator Bernie Sanders, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.