Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who will make history as the first woman, first Black person and first Asian-American to serve as vice president, spoke Saturday evening ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s speech.
And her local heritage was cause for celebration across the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday, as many touted her background as Oakland-born, Berkeley-raised, and coming into her political career in San Francisco. Children scrawled “I’m speaking” — Harris’ now famous retort to Vice President Mike Pence during their debate — outside her childhood home in Berkeley.
In her speech Saturday, Harris thanked election workers as well as the voters who participated in an election with record turnout.
“You chose hope and unity, decency, science and, yes, truth,” she said. “You chose Joe Biden as the next president of the United States of America.”
Harris celebrated the groundbreaking nature of her victory, too: “Every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.”

In his speech following Harris, Biden called for healing and cooperation in a victory speech on Saturday night, striking an optimistic tone about the prospects for a renewed and reunited America.