What did Kamala Harris do as vice president? What North Carolina voters should know

The meteoric rise of Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed President Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate represents one of the most significant shifts in presidential politics in recent history.

With the 2024 presidential election just around the corner, Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump are stepping up their campaign activities in the more than half a dozen swing states, including North Carolina, that will determine who wins the White House.

Recent polls of likely voters in North Carolina give Harris a three-point lead over former President Trump. Harris is at 49 percent, while Trump is at 46 percent support, according to the Sept. 9 Quinnipiac University poll, released a day before the two’s first televised debate.

As Harris now takes the lead in North Carolina, we examine some of her most significant accomplishments and policy initiatives during her time as vice president.

immigration

In response to immigration concerns, Harris launched the Central America Forward (CAF) public-private partnership. The idea behind CAF is to support local job creation and other measures to slow the influx of mass immigration.

CAF has generated more than $5.2 billion since its inception in 2021. Its partners include more than 50 companies and organizations committed to supporting economic growth in the Central America region. The companies represent financial services, textiles, apparel, agriculture, technology, telecommunications, nonprofits and others, according to the White House.

Voting rights

According to White House transcripts, Harris was at the forefront of the administration’s effort to enshrine voting rights protections across the United States. She pushed for Congress to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would have expanded the protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and required federal approval for some changes to local voting laws.

In 2021, the bill failed to receive the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster, preventing debate from beginning in the Senate, where Harris would have cast the tie-breaking vote in the evenly divided chamber.

abortion

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Harris has been a leading voice on behalf of the Biden administration advocating for reproductive rights, often criticizing Republican-led laws restricting abortion.

Harris visited a Planned Parenthood clinic on March 14, a historic first for a president or vice president while in office, according to previous USA TODAY reporting.

During a tour of the Minnesota clinic, the vice president spoke with staff and health care providers as part of her nationwide “Fighting for Reproductive Freedoms” tour earlier this year.

Gun violence

In September 2023, Biden set up the first White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention to curb gun violence. Vice President Harris will lead the office, the White House announced.

The Office of Gun Violence Prevention builds on the Biden-Harris administration’s actions to end gun violence, including the signing of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

The law was hailed by the White House as the most effective gun violence prevention measure in nearly three decades: it bans people under 21 from purchasing firearms, gives the Justice Department additional powers to prosecute gun dealers, provides mental health services in schools to help youth deal with the trauma and grief caused by gun violence, and funds community-based violence intervention programs.

Maternal health

In her previous role as U.S. Senator for California, Harris introduced the Maternal CARE Act and the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, which are designed to direct cross-agency efforts to improve maternal health, particularly among racial and ethnic minorities, veterans and other vulnerable populations, as well as maternal health issues related to Covid-19.

The Vice President’s previous work on maternal and infant health care was a central component of the Build Back Better Act, passed in 2022. The law expands access to maternity care and provides new investments to reduce mortality and morbidity rates.

Broadband expansion

In 2023, Harris and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to celebrate the announcement of a new electronics manufacturing facility made possible by the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda and bipartisan infrastructure bill.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill requires the use of American-made materials and products for federally funded infrastructure projects, with the goal of creating hundreds of new American jobs. The bill also calls for a historic $65 billion investment to expand affordable and reliable high-speed internet access in communities across the United States.

“Our investments in broadband infrastructure create jobs in Wisconsin and across the country and improve access to reliable, high-speed internet so that everyone in America has the tools they need to succeed in the 21st century,” Harris said.

Kathryn Palmer of USA TODAY and Reuters contributed to reporting this story.

This article originally appeared in the Palm Springs Desert Sun: What you should know about Vice President Kamala Harris North Carolina