On August 22, 2014, then-attorney general for California Kamala Harris married attorney and divorcee Douglas Emhoff at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse. Maya, the younger sister of the future vice president of the United States, was the officiant. As Emhoff shared in his heartwarming speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, a year prior to their wedding day, the two were set up on a blind date. And preceding that event, he called her at 8:30 a.m. to try to make a good first impression.
“I got Kamala’s voicemail, and I just started rambling,” he recalled. “‘Hey, it’s Doug. I’m on my way to an early meeting. Again, it’s Doug.’ I was trying to grab the words out of the air and just put them back in my mouth.”
Thankfully, Harris wasn’t turned off by the voicemail. In fact, she still has it.
“By the way, Kamala saved that voicemail and makes me listen to it on every anniversary,” he joked in front of a packed house at The United Center in Chicago.
The two are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary, which is an incredible milestone in the midst of an extraordinary time for Harris. She is vying for the highest office in the land, and Emhoff, America’s second gentleman (and his children, Cole and Ella), has been by her side through it all, lauding her at every turn.
“She’s an amazing wife, loving to me,” Emhoff previously told PEOPLE. “She focuses on me as much as I focus on her. Maybe I’m a little more public about it.”
“Behind the scenes she’s just a wonderful, caring, loving wife and great mom, auntie, friend,” he added. “She loves to laugh, which is a good thing. She loves to cook, she loves music. And so she’s just someone who’s a great partner in every sense of the word.”
The couple has talked about their morning check-ins and night ones, too. “…at the end of every day, find some way to check in, no matter how tired you are or how many miles apart you may be, even if it’s just at the end of the day, and say ‘I love you,’” Harris told PEOPLE in 2023.
We love their connection, and now that we know it, we adore their love story as well. As they mark 10 years of love and marriage, check out some of our favorite photos of the couple.
01
01
2014
CULVER CITY, CA – DECEMBER 04: California Attorney General Kamala Harris (L) and husband lawyer Douglas Emhoff attend the Children’s Defense Fund’s 24th Annual Beat the Odds Awards at The Book Bindery on December 4, 2014 in Culver City, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)
02
02
2015
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – FEBRUARY 22: California Attorney General Kamala Harris (R) and husband lawyer Douglas Emhoff attend the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 22, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)
03
03
2017
UNITED STATES – JANUARY 03: Vice President Joe Biden administers an oath to Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., during a swearing-in ceremony in the Capitol’s Old Senate Chamber, January 03, 2017. Her husband Douglas Emhoff holds the bible. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
04
04
2019
OAKLAND, CA – JANUARY 27: Senator Kamala Harris poses for a photograph with her husband Douglas Emhoff ahead of her presidential campaign rally in of Oakland, California, on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019. On Tuesday, August 11, 2020, Joe Biden announced he had selected Harris as his Vice-presidential running mate. (Gabrielle Lurie/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)”n
05
05
2019
DES MOINES, IOWA – AUGUST 10: Douglas Emhoff, husband of Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), takes a selfie prior to her delivering a campaign speech at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair on August 10, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. 22 of the 23 politicians seeking the Democratic Party presidential nomination will be visiting the fair this week, six months ahead of the all-important Iowa caucuses. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
06
06
2020
TOPSHOT – Senator from California and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff stand on stage at the end of the third day of the Democratic National Convention, being held virtually amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware on August 19, 2020. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)
07
07
2020
PHILADELPHIA, PA – NOVEMBER 02: Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and husband, Douglas Emhoff, embrace on stage after Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden spoke in Pittsburgh at a simultaneous drive-in election eve rally on November 2, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who is originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania, remains ahead of President Donald Trump by about six points, according to a recent polling average. With the election tomorrow, Trump held four rallies across Pennsylvania over the weekend, as he vies to recapture the Keystone State’s vital 20 electoral votes. In 2016, he carried Pennsylvania by only 44,292 votes out of more than 6 million cast, less than a 1 percent differential, becoming the first Republican to claim victory here since 1988. (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
08
08
2021
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 12: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and husband Doug Emhoff join marchers for the Capital Pride Parade on June 12, 2021 in Washington, DC. Capital Pride returned to Washington DC, after being canceled last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
09
09
2023
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 23: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (L) kisses her husband Doug Emhoff after she addressed a campaign rally on the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision which struck down a federal right to abortion at the Mayflower Hotel on June 23, 2023 in Washington, DC. The campaign event was organized by NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and EMILY’s List. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
10
10
2024
US Vice President Kamala Harris (L) and her husband Douglas Emhoff arrive at the Booksellers Room of the White House on the occasion of the State Dinner with the Kenyan president at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 23, 2024. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
