Vice President Kamala Harris is a history-maker, but one of the defining aspects of the politician’s life is her close-knit relationship with her family.
Harris didn’t have children before marrying her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. But after their wedding, she became a stepmom to Emhoff’s two kids, Cole and Ella. Both were by Harris’ side during her inauguration as vice president, and Ella even went viral because of her embellished Miu Miu coat.
With Harris potentially on the verge of more history as a 2024 presidential candidate, here’s everything you need to know about her two stepchildren and their professional endeavors.
Harris’ two stepkids refer to her as “Momala”
Emhoff’s two children come from his former marriage to Kerstin Emhoff. Harris wrote in an essay for Elle that Ella and Cole are named after musicians Ella Fitzgerald and John Coltrane. They both call Harris “Momala,” a play on her first name, because they all “agreed that we didn’t like the term ‘stepmom,’” she wrote.
The politician explained that when she and Emhoff first met, they decided to wait some time before she met the kids. But when she finally did, she brought along a tin of cookies that were tied neatly with a bow. “I was determined not to insert myself in their lives until Doug and I had established we were in this for the long haul,” Harris said. “Children need consistency; I didn’t want to [be] a temporary fixture, because I didn’t want to disappoint them. There’s nothing worse than disappointing a child.”
As for Cole and Ella’s take on Harris’ parenting style, Cole told The New York Times: “I was a senior when they got together, and I remember I saw... a photo of Kamala at the [Brett] Kavanaugh hearing, and someone tweeted, like, ‘I’d hate to have to look at that face and explain why I’m late for curfew.’ And I was thinking, I’ve literally had to do that.”
Harris is proud of her “brilliant, talented, funny” stepkids
Both Cole and Ella are relatively quiet when it comes to public life, but Cole is the more private of the two.
Now 29, Cole graduated from Colorado College in May 2017 and, at the time, was working as an assistant at William Morris Endeavor, a Beverly Hills talent and media agency. According to his IMDb profile, he worked as an assistant on the set of two recent films: Minari (2020) and Father of the Bride (2022).
He also married his longtime girlfriend in 2023. Harris officiated the wedding.
Meanwhile, Ella, 25, was a student at Parsons School of Design in New York City, where she majored in apparel and textiles. She shares many of her designs on her Instagram and her website. In January 2021, she signed with agency IMG Models Worldwide and has since taken the catwalk for brands like Balenciaga.
Harris has nothing but praise for her stepchildren. “They are brilliant, talented, funny kids who have grown to be remarkable adults,” she wrote in Elle. “I was already hooked on Doug, but I believe it was Cole and Ella who reeled me in.”
They are a happy, blended family
The vice president explained that she and Emhoff’s ex-wife, Kerstin, are “dear friends” who became incredibly close once Harris entered Cole’s and Ella’s lives. “She and I became a duo of cheerleaders in the bleachers at Ella’s swim meets and basketball games, often to Ella’s embarrassment. We sometimes joke that our modern family is almost a little too functional,” she said.
Ella said in The New York Times: “The level of parenting between the three of them is very different now that we’re both in our 20s and are kind of able to make decisions. So with hair and tattoos and things like that, I think they’re all in the realm of like, ‘I don’t understand it, but I want you to be who you want to be.’ They have good communication between the three of them. They are really a unit, like a three-person parenting squad. It’s really cool.”
Ella defended Harris from criticism
With Harris on the verge of receiving the Democratic nomination in the 2024 presidential election, Ella is defending her stepmom over past comments from one of her potential opponents.
Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance has drawn criticism for telling Fox News in a 2021 interview the United States is run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made.” He then directly named Harris, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Along with Kerstin, Ella took to social media in recent days to rebuff the remarks. “How can you be ‘childless’ when you have cutie pie kids like cole and I,” Ella wrote in an Instagram story, adding, “I love my three parents.”
Cassie Hurwitz (she/her) is an associate editor at Oprah Daily, where she covers everything from culture to entertainment to lifestyle. She can typically be found in the middle of multiple books and TV shows all at once. Previously, Cassie worked at Parents, Rachael Ray In Season, and Reveal. Her love language is pizza (New York slices, Chicago deep dish, and otherwise).
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
