Kamala Harris Is the Best Choice to Represent Women | Opinion

Kamala Harris is generating unprecedented excitement among women for many reasons. She clearly understands the issues that matter and just as clearly advocates for solutions that are within reach. But that’s just the beginning.
Today, women face what are known as interconnected challenges that demonstrate numerous ways they are excluded, discriminated against, marginalized, or disrespected. It’s been said that if you’re standing in the path of more than one form of exclusion, you’re likely to get hit by both. Kamala Harris knows what women face each and every day and has proven she is consistently ready to stand up for our freedoms and rights.
And she also knows what’s changed because of Donald Trump’s policies and judicial appointments—the rights women have lost, the freedoms taken away, and the dangers we now face. When Kamala Harris says, “we won’t go back” women know this is far more than a slogan. It’s an imperative that every woman recognizes.
If these were ideal times, Kamala Harris’ gender might not need to stay in such sharp focus. Her experience as vice president (along with her record as a senator, attorney general and prosecutor), has more than proven her ability and qualifications for the White House. That should be enough.
But these are far from ideal times. A political movement has grown around a culture of toxic masculinity that glorifies aggression and division, where women are objectified, vilified, and attacked for demanding equality.
Kamala Harris won’t let that movement succeed, and they know it. That’s why the attacks on the presidential ticket have been so ugly. When former President Donald Trump questions Kamala Harris’ identity, mocks her name or insults her intelligence, he’s not just talking about her—he’s targeting every woman who dares to assert her own power.
Women see that. Women understand that. And now, women see politicians and courts lining up to turn back the clocks even more, taking more power and control over women’s health and women’s lives.
We’ve seen it in the Dobbs decision that took away the constitutional right to abortion, the multiple voting rights decisions that perpetuate voter suppression and the Project 2025 Agenda that would take power away from everyday people and give it to politicians, judges, and corporations that exploit and harm women.
We’re seeing it in state after state, from school boards to town councils to legislatures and governors, all lining up behind policies that set women back—and keep our country from moving forward.
That’s why it’s so important we elect Kamala Harris. She will represent everyone—all the people—and shift the power dynamics from the privileged few. It’s inspiring to hear her on the campaign trail emphasize unity, saying she’ll fight for all Americans, not just those who supported her. Women know that’s the kind of president we need.
When women are elected, we see more public policy decisions made that benefit everyone, closing gender gaps, advancing economic growth, and strengthening workplace protections, making it easier to live and work in a society where opportunity is available for all.
Kamala Harris has spent her whole career fighting powerful interests and representing those left—or pushed—behind. As president, she’ll fight for a caring economy, reproductive rights, racial justice, workplace equality, paid family leave, and ending gender discrimination in education, employment and health care.
Women relate to Harris as an advocate for priorities like those, but also as a warm, genuine, relatable human being. When she talks about issues, she’s not just ticking off boxes or following a script, she’s connecting her own lived experiences to what we’re experiencing ourselves.
You can see Harris’ authenticity when she talks to an audience, connecting as a person and as a candidate. And that’s why she is the right choice and why women will vote in record numbers for Kamala Harris.
Christian. F. Nunes is the national president of the National Organization for Women. As the second African American president in the organization’s history, the youngest person of color, and the youngest president in more than 40 years, Nunes is leading the organization through an intersectional lens, bringing a diverse coalition of grassroots activists to work against structural inequities disproportionately impacting women and girls.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.