SACRAMENTO, Calif. — U.S. Senator Kamala Harris has made history as the first woman of color to be on a major party ticket. Two of her childhood friends say they were both unsurprised and ecstatic about the announcement.

Stacey Johnson-Batiste had no doubt that her best friend would be chosen as Joe Biden’s running mate.

“I felt in my heart for the last week or so that she was going to be the one, but I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to jinx anything,” Johnson-Batiste said.

What You Need To Know

  • U.S. Senator Kamala Harris has made history as the first woman of color to be on a major party ticket

  • Two of Harris's childhood friends say they were both unsurprised and ecstatic about the announcement.

  • Stacey Johnson-Batiste has called Senator Harris her closest friend since kindergarten and described her as humble, caring and courageous

  • Carole Porter was bussed to school in Berkeley alongside Harris during the 1970s, and cried tears of joys after hearing the announcement

Johnson-Batiste has called Harris her closest friend ever since she was in kindergarten and Harris stood up for her after a little boy messed with her school project.

“The person people see and hear is the same person I’ve known since we were five years old,” Johnson-Batiste said.

Since they were kids, Johnson-Batiste has described Harris as humble, caring, and courageous, all traits that she believes make California’s junior senator the ideal pick for vice president.

“As soon as I heard, I sent her a text message, and all I texted was crying tears of joy,” Johnson-Batiste said.

Carole Porter was also crying tears of joys after hearing the historic announcement. She was bussed to school in Berkeley alongside Harris during the 1970s.

“I was crying so much, I couldn’t see. I had to pull over. I knew she was going to be the nominee in my heart. I just knew it, but to hear it actually happen was very overwhelming for me,” Porter said.

Johnson-Batiste, Porter, and Harris were all born in the same hospital in Oakland.

Decades later in the Bay Area, Harris made history when she was elected the first female district attorney in San Francisco.

Porter says that Joe Biden’s decision to pick Senator Harris as a running mate is a victory for all women of color.

“Kamala is lifting up – and it’s going to make me tear up when I talk about it – she’s lifting up communities of brown and black girls. She’s lifting up the community we grew up in,” Porter added.

Johnson-Batiste says Harris, who is the first Black woman from California to serve in the U.S. Senate and the first woman to be sworn in as the state’s attorney general, is no stranger to breaking barriers.

“The timing couldn’t be better with everything going on in our country this year,” Johnson-Batiste said.

Meanwhile, Johnson-Batiste and Porter are keeping their fingers crossed that they will witness their friend make history once again in November.