2024-08-21 23:05:02
During the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, family members of top-of-the-ticket candidates watched as the week’s speeches kicked off, including Vice President Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter and 25-year-old Ella Emhoff.
While sitting with her family, Emhoff drew attention for donning the viral camo baseball cap with “Harris Walz” in orange writing across the front. Three thousand hats sold out in 30 minutes shortly after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was announced as Harris’ running mate.
Ella Emhoff and older brother, Cole, were first introduced to the country in 2020 when Harris, who they call “Momala,” became President Joe Biden’s running mate. Now, they could potentially be part of the first family as the November matchup between Harris and former President Donald Trump nears.
Doug Emhoff, Harris’ husband and father of Ella and Cole, is scheduled to give a speech at the convention Tuesday evening ahead of former President Barack Obama’s keynote address.
Who is Ella Emhoff?
Kamala Harris became a stepmom to Ella and Cole when she married Doug Emhoff in 2014. It was Harris’ first marriage and Doug Emhoff’s second as he shares his adult children with his ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff. Ella Emhoff was in high school when Harris and her father got married, and started her senior year when Harris was sworn into the U.S. Senate.
In addition to being the stepdaughter of the vice president, Ella is a model who has pursued a career in fashion and design.
A week after she went viral for wearing a gem-covered Miu Miu coat to Biden’s 2021 inauguration, Ella signed with modeling agency IMG Models Worldwide. She has also modeled for Balenciaga and Adidas by Stella McCartney.
In 2021, she graduated from Parsons School of Design and went onto found knit wear brand, Soft Hands. She also hosts knitting classes.
In July, Ella came to Harris’ defense after claims made by Republican vice presidential pick and Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s resurfaced, where he called Harris and other female lawmakers “childless cat ladies,” who “are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made.”
Emhoff reposted a post on her Instagram story with the caption, “How can you be ‘childless’ when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I?”
Kerstin Emhoff also weighed in, saying, “These are baseless attacks. For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and me.” She told CNN, “She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.”
What to know about Cole Emhoff, stepson to Kamala Harris
According to People magazine, the 29-year-old Cole works for Plan B Entertainment, a production company co-founded by Brad Pitt that has produced three Academy Award winners for best picture in “The Departed” (which won for the year 2006), “12 Years A Slave” (2013) and “Moonlight” (2016), not to mention upcoming film “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and Netflix hits “The Killer” and “3 Body Problem.”
Cole attended Colorado College and graduated with a degree in psychology in 2017. He was 20 in 2014 when his father married Harris. He’s named after jazz musician John Coltrane.
Cole and his sister, Ella, are responsible for coining the term “Momala” to refer to their stepmother, an alternative to the more common “stepmom” moniker.
Kamala Harris served as officiant in Cole’s wedding
Cole married Greenley Littlejohn in 2023, and Harris officiated their vows.
“As a child of divorce, I knew how hard it could be when your parents start to date other people. And 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 wrote in Elle magazine in 2019. “Children need consistency; I didn’t want to insert myself into their lives as a temporary fixture because I didn’t want to disappoint them. There’s nothing worse than disappointing a child.”
Later in the essay, Harris wrote, “To know Cole and Ella is to know that their mother Kerstin is an incredible mother. Kerstin and I hit it off ourselves and are dear friends. 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.”
