Democratic Senator Kamala Harris says she will run for president in the 2020 election, the eighth name to join the battle for the party’s nomination.
The California senator, who was elected in 2016, previously served as the state’s attorney general.
The 54-year-old, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, is described as a rising star within the party.
Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Tulsi Gabbard, John Delaney and Julian Castro are among those who have also announced their intentions to run.
The 2020 Democratic presidential primary will be the first time more than one woman competes for the party’s nomination.
The race is already thought to be record-breaking, with four women candidates running national campaigns.
At her first campaign event on Monday, at an African American university in Washington, she accused President Trump of holding Americans hostage by prolonging the partial government shutdown.