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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – At Biden’s White House, the first lady wants to continue teaching and the second gentleman is considering leaving his law firm to support the vice president’s career.
When it comes to political marriages, we have come to a new moment.
Doug Emhoff, the 56-year-old husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, will leave his private law practice ahead of inauguration day to focus on his role in the White House, a spokesperson said on Tuesday. He has said little so far about how he will approach the role and is still working with the transition team on any issues he will address.
“We’ve been waiting for this kind of gender shift for decades now,” said Kim Nalder, a political science professor who focused on women and gender at California State University-Sacramento. She added: “There is a lot of symbolism about a man retiring from his high profile career in order to support his wife’s career.”
Emhoff’s decision to cut ties with DLA Piper also offered an early test of how a Biden administration would avoid potential ethical issues. Although Emhoff is not a lobbyist, the company has a significant presence in lobbying the federal government on behalf of clients such as Comcast, Raytheon and the government of Puerto Rico. He took a leave of absence from cabinet in August when Biden chose Harris, a U.S. senator from California, as vice president.
While Emhoff has built a career as a top entertainment lawyer in Southern California, he has been most visible to voters as Harris’ husband. He quickly befriended other political spouses during the Democratic primary, when Harris sought the party’s nomination.
“I want more women in power, and I want more partners, whoever their partner is, to support them and provide them with an opportunity and environment for success,” Emhoff said in an October interview with digital site NowThis News. It was not made available for an interview with The Associated Press.
Chasten Buttigieg, husband of former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, said the two quickly struck up a friendship by exchanging stories about the people they met and their bizarre “fish out of water” experiences as political spouses. Emhoff would praise Chasten Buttigieg for his speeches at events and never approached him as a competitor.
“He was just there for the right reasons,” said Chasten Buttigieg. “It was because he loved his wife and thought she would make a great president.
Buttigieg, who is also said to have broken barriers as a male presidential groom, said he remembered how often he was asked what title he would use, a question that seemed frivolous. (Emhoff hasn’t officially chosen his title. But Biden called him the “second gentleman.”) Buttigieg expects Emhoff to thrive in his new job as an official.
“You just have to be someone that people can see themselves in,” he said. “People love to chat with him and take pictures with him. He’s always full of Daddy’s jokes and he’s really disarming.
Emhoff embraced his role as a political surrogate during the campaign. He will be the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice president, and he was a key liaison with Jewish groups and donors.
He also developed a close friendship with Jill Biden, a former second lady, and the two frequently campaigned together in states such as Iowa and New Hampshire during the primary. Jill Biden said she wanted to continue teaching at a community college, as she did when Joe Biden was vice president.
Harris tweeted a photo of herself and Emhoff smiling on Monday the night Biden was announced the winner of the election.
“Meet the love of my life,” she told her 11 million followers.
It was Emhoff who filmed a video of Harris calling Biden after the news of their victory, which she shared on social media.
Harris and Emhoff met in 2013 and tied the knot a year later. It was Harris’ first marriage and Emmoff’s second; her children are in their twenties and call Harris “Momala”, a play on her name and a Yiddish word for “little mother”.
The two were created by a friend, and Harris remembers the scrutiny she faced as a single woman in her forties and her reluctance to go public with her relationship in her memoir, “The Truths We Hold.” . She first brought Emhoff in public to a 2014 speech about an absenteeism initiative she had been pursuing. His team referred to everything that followed as AD – After Doug.
“They knew how much he made me laugh. Me too, ”she wrote.
Harris was Attorney General of California at the time and Emhoff practiced law as the Managing Director of the West Coast branch of Venable LLP, serving clients in the entertainment industry with a focus on litigation relating to trademarks and intellectual property. He had previously represented clients such as Merck, Walmart and a Fresno, California-based arms dealer, clients who today seem out of step with the progressive wings of the Democratic Party.
When Harris began his tenure in the US Senate in 2017, Emhoff joined DLA Piper, which had a presence in Washington and Los Angeles, where Harris and Emhoff shared their time. More recently, he has represented clients including a production company and a major winemaker.
John Bessler, husband of Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who is also a lawyer, called Emhoff a “modern man” for dedicating time to Harris’ political career rather than his own.
“It’s just another example of how he supports Kamala,” he said.
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Rhonda Shafner, Associated Press researcher in New York City, contributed to this report.
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