Kamala Harris: Who is the California senator and can she win 2020 in a crowded Democratic field?

Ms Harris is a former state attorney general in California with a compelling personal history that could help her in a crowded democratic field

California Senator Kamala Harris has announced she is running for president in 2020, adding her name to a growing list of democratic hopefuls seeking the party’s nomination.

Ms Harris, the former attorney general of California, announced her bid on ABC’s Good Morning America, where she called on her supporters to work with her to “claim our future”.

The network announcement was paired with the release of a video on her social media accounts that teased her official announcement in Oakland next week, the city she was born in.

“Justice. Decency. Equality. Freedom. Democracy. These aren't just words. They're the values we as Americans cherish. And they're all on the line now,” Ms Harris said in the video.

“The future of our country depends on you and millions of others lifting our voices to fight for our American values,” she continues. “That's why I'm running for president of the United States. ”I'm running to lift those voices, to bring our voices together.“

Ms Harris has some notable potential strengths that could help her to ultimately win the democratic nomination, and then take on President Donald Trump in the 2020 general election.

Her background as a prosecutor, for instance, has made her a sharp interrogator who has stood out during the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh last year.

Ms Harris can also rely on a compelling personal background, which could help her as she seeks to convince varying constituencies to support her in her bid. She has embraced her heritage as a politician, and has gone so far as to punch back at criticism of Democrats for focusing on so-called “identity politics”.

The California senator is the daughter of an Indian-born woman and a Jamaican father, and represents one of the most populous states in the country — not to mention one that consistently votes Democrat.

Ms Harris, as a senator, has also embraced liberal issues such as gender and racial equality, which could be a buoy for her in a Democratic primary that appears poised to tilt left to some degree and one that is likely to be informed to some considerable degree by Mr Trump.

She is also the first African American woman to join the 2016 race, and the third woman overall to announce her candidacy.

But, clinching the democratic nomination is anything but a certainty for Ms Harris — or anyone who is hoping for the chance to take on Mr Trump for that matter.

To become the democrats’ standard bearer, Ms Harris will likely need to beat out more than a dozen top-level contenders. That list already includes several notable democrats like Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard.

Ms Harris could also come under some fire for her tenure as state attorney general in California, a record that has generally been considered to be “progressive” but has come under fire recently as speculation has swirled about her potential candidacy.

That includes criticism of Ms Harris’ seeming reluctance to embrace criminal justice reform in the state, and her record on wrongful convictions.