What to know about Doug Emhoff, possible first first gentleman

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff — the first to hold the position after Vice President Harris became the first female vice president in 2021 — could make history again if Harris defeats former President Trump in November.

If elected in the fall, Harris will become the first woman to serve as president, making Emhoff the first, first gentleman.

Emhoff has frequently been seen on the campaign trail supporting his wife and has often discussed issues surrounding gender equality and combatting antisemitism. He also spoke at the Harris campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del. Monday, just one day after she kicked off her run for the White House with the endorsement of President Biden — who announced over the weekend that he was withdrawing from the race.

“Now I get to support my wife, Kamala Harris, running for president of the United States,” Emhoff said.

He also shared a video of him and Harris smiling and waving to the crowd at the campaign headquarters, writing on the social media X he is “so proud” of what she has accomplished over the last four years.

Here’s what to know about Emhoff:

Met Harris on blind date 

Emhoff’s White House biography says he and Harris met through a blind date in 2013 and were married one year later in 2014. He has two children through his first marriage, who nicknamed Harris “Momala.”

Emhoff said in a recent interview with CBS News that it was “love at first sight” with Harris, adding “we’ve been together ever since.”

Lawyer for more than 30 years 

The second gentleman was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and raised in Matawan, N.J., before moving to California in his teenage years. He attended college and law school in the state before later starting his own entertainment law firm.  

That law firm was later acquired by Venable LLP in 2015, where Emhoff served as managing director. He later joined DLA Piper in October 2017, where he was a partner of the firm’s Los Angeles Office.  

He left the firm in 2020 to serve in the Biden administration. In addition to his official duties, he also teaches legal classes at Georgetown Law. 

Spoken out against antisemitism

Emhoff is the first Jewish spouse of either a president or vice president, according to his White House biography. He has regularly spoken with Jewish leaders and held roundtable events with individuals from the Jewish community, according to his biography.

Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which sparked the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, Emhoff has strongly spoken out against antisemitism.

He called Jewish leaders at Columbia University as protests overtook its campus and colleges across the country and also condemned former President Trump’s comments about Democratic Jewish voters as “disgusting.”

Advocate for reproductive rights

Emhoff has been a strong advocate for reproductive health issues especially since the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2022. In a May interview with NBC’s Yamiche Alcindor, he urged more men to join the abortion rights fight.

“This is an issue of fairness to women. Women are dying,” Emhoff told Alcindor. “It’s affecting [men’s] ability to plan their lives. And it’s also an issue of what’s next, what other freedoms are at risk. And these freedoms are affecting all Americans, not just women.”

He also made his first visit to a reproductive health care clinic in July and held a roundtable with individuals who have been affected by the overturn of Roe v. Wade, which handed the rights to abortion access back to the states.

This comes after Harris became the first vice president to visit a facility that provides abortion services in March.