Inside Kamala Harris' Relationship History

Somewhat surprisingly, Vice President Kamala Harris has reportedly only dated three men since her political career began. While the 2024 presidential hopeful was working as a Deputy District Attorney of Alameda County, her path crossed with California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown. The pair ignored their 30-year age gap and struck up a romance when Harris was about 29 and he was 60. Then, in 1994, somewhat controversially Brown gave Harris a spot on the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and the California Medical Assistance Commission. 

Nearly two decades later, critics like conservative commentator Matt Walsh took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to erroneously claim that the VP "slept her way to power" because of Brown's appointment. However, they completely ignored Harris' subsequent, hugely impressive professional accomplishments, and all the awards she received for being a political trailblazer. Plus, neither Harris nor Brown believe that she wouldn't have a career without him. Speaking to The Times in 2024, the former San Francisco mayor clarified that Harris was responsible for her own success. 

Meanwhile, the 2024 Democratic Party candidate once firmly told the San Francisco Chronicle, "I do not owe [Brown] a thing," per Refinery29. Harris also argued that anyone in her position would have accepted Brown's offer to join such important boards. Harris and Brown's age-gap fling also became the subject of controversy because he was married to Blanche Vitero when they got together. However, TIME dispelled rumors of the 2024 presidential hopeful being the other woman in their marriage by clarifying that Brown and Blanche were already separated at the time.

As Politico reported, Willie Brown confirmed to the San Francisco Chronicle that Kamala Harris ended their relationship around 1995, soon after he became the mayor of the city. The future VP called things off "because she concluded there was no permanency in our relationship, and she was absolutely right." Then, at some point in the early 2000s, Harris had a short-lived romance with Montel Williams, who had an eponymous talk show at the time. Unfortunately, even that brief relationship garnered some sexist remarks. 

In 2019, Inside Edition shared an article featuring a clip of Harris and Williams walking a red carpet in 2001, where another woman can also be seen holding his hand. The short video led some to falsely assume that Harris was "Montel's side-piece" in another relationship, as widely discussed on X. However, in a since-deleted post, the former talk show host pointed out that the other woman in the clip was actually his daughter. 

He also took to X shortly thereafter to clap back at the media, writing, "@KamalaHarris and I briefly dated about 20 years ago when we were both single. So what? I have great respect for Sen. Harris. I have to wonder if the same stories about her dating history would have been written if she were a male candidate?" But despite his defense, Williams still slyly shaded Harris after she announced her 2024 presidency bid.

Kamala Harris had the most adorable meet-cute with her future husband Doug Emhoff. In the Vice President's 2019 memoir, "The Truths We Hold," she recalled how, in 2013, a friend of hers excitedly informed Harris that she had found her ideal match in Emhoff and had encouraged him to reach out to her. Soon, Emhoff left the future VP an extremely awkward and lengthy voicemail that convinced him he would never hear from her again. On the other end, Harris' curiosity was piqued, so she reached out to Emhoff to set up a date. 

Harris was immediately drawn to Emhoff's personality, writing, "There was no pretense or posing with Doug, no arrogance or boasting." She continued, "He seemed so genuinely comfortable with himself. It's part of why I liked him immediately." Emhoff was evidently also quite taken with his future wife since he emailed Harris after their first date to let her know his availability in the next couple of months so they could meet up again.

The 2024 presidential hopeful recalled how he laid his cards on the table by asserting, "I'm too old to play games or hide the ball. I really like you, and I want to see if we can make this work." Given all this, it's unsurprising that Emhoff popped the question in 2014 after just under a year of dating. The happy couple said their "I dos" in August of the same year. Ever since then, Emhoff has sweetly been one of his wife's biggest and most vocal supporters.