Douglas Emhoff: Five things to know about Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s husband

One of the tightest races to the White House in US history has yielded a number of firsts: Jill Biden will be the first Italian-American first lady and Kamala Harris the only woman to serve as vice president. As Ms Harris’ husband, Douglas Emhoff will also be a milestone in many ways: While Ms Harris has become not only the first woman to be elected vice president but also the first Jamaican-American woman and the first person of South Asian descent to do so, Mr Emhoff’s position is also one never seen before. He will be now known as “second gentleman”, although on his Twitter biography he still describes himself as “Kamala Harris’s Hubby”. Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1964, Mr Emhoff is an entertainment lawyer in California. In yet another landmark, he will also be the first Jewish spouse of a vice president. His father was a women’s shoe designer who moved his family to California when Mr Emhoff was a teenager. Currently, he works at DLA Piper, an international law firm which has offices in the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar. In an interview earlier this year, Mr Emhoff said he met his future wife on a blind date. After getting her number, he left his now wife a voicemail introducing himself, which she now plays every year on their anniversary. They married in 2014 and although they have not had children, Mr Emhoff has two from a previous marriage. In the past seven years or so, he has strongly supported his wife, even calling her a "warrior" in the interview. Mr Emhoff's’ former wife, Kersten, is a staunch supporter of Ms Harris, even going on the campaign trail for her. The feeling seems mutual, as Ms Harris dedicated a poem to Kirsten for Mother’s Day. The two families have a close relationship and spend the Thanksgiving holiday together, Mr Emhoff said in the interview. Mr Emhoff has recently established a large Twitter following with more than 530,000 followers. Here, he constantly and consistently publishes pro-Harris content, including a photo of the pair hugging after the announcement was made that Joe Biden won the election. It is unclear whether he will continue to practise law, or take on other responsibilities as Ms Harris’ spouse in the White House.

Douglas Emhoff: Five things to know about Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s husband

He will be the first ‘second gentleman’ of the US