California U.S. Senate candidate Kamala Harris has claimed one of two spots in the November runoff, moving the state attorney general into a potentially historic election.
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With the support of the Democratic establishment and powerful labor groups, Harris’ fundraising skills make her the favorite heading into a November 8 rematch. It’s the first time a Senate seat has been open in California since 1992.
Nevertheless, racism still makes reaching the senate an uphill battle for racial minorities. Democrats are now 45 percent of the California electorate and Republicans are 27 percent, according to the Secretary of State. Instead, she looks to face Sanchez, an easygoing but gaffe-prone Washington veteran who is favored by Latino voters and who has beaten long odds before. “That that’s how we’re going to go into November”.
“No student should think they can’t go to college because it costs too much”, Harris said.
Sanchez is the less conventional and more spontaneous, unpredictable candidate in the race.
Like many local California voters Truckee resident Alison Murray says the race was overwhelming. An exit poll of absentee voters showed Harris winning across all demographic groups – and even pulling in the fourth-highest total among Republican voters.
“If you’re Loretta Sanchez, you have to be different from Harris”, Schnur added. “These are dynamics that are opportunities for us”.
You are going into a whole different election.
The Sanchez campaign acknowledged there were “significant challenges ahead” but said Harris would be mistaken if she expects the campaign to be a cakewalk. Sanchez relied in part on money transferred from her congressional account as well as the sale of her campaign headquarters. “I didn’t know 80 percent of them”, said Fresno correctional officer Juan Perez.
These means that Harris will be facing fellow Democrat Rep. Loretta Sanchez of Orange County, who trailed Harris with 16 percent of the vote, for the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. She also would be the first Indian woman to hold a Senate seat – her mother was born in India and came to the U.S.in 1960.
Clint Dempsey had a goal and two assists, and the United States rebounded from its opening loss in Copa America with a convincing 4-0 victory over Costa Rica on Tuesday night.
Sanchez also could use her background as a financial adviser and knowledge of foreign affairs and national security to reach out to Republicans. With two Democrats facing each other in the general election and so many other variables, Carrick said, “This is uncharted territory”. “But we’ll see how it develops”.
“I’d like to see a Republican, me being a Republican”, Diaz said. “She has not been as wacky like the rest of them”.
Roe reiterated the Republican-led effort would not be coming from the party structure, whose officials did not decry being shut out of the runoff.
Sundheim, attorney Tom Del Beccaro and businessmen Ron Unz had hoped to make a dent in a notoriously Democratic-leaning state. Harry Reid, could also take the honor of being the first Latina in the Senate.
On primary election night in 2014, for instance, a race for the state’s controller office between five candidates – three Democrats and two Republicans – appeared set to boil down to the two GOP contenders, despite Democrats receiving more votes overall (at the time, 43 percent of California voters were Democrats, compared to 28 percent Republican).
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And on Tuesday, not one Republican made the cut. “There’s an inclination among Republicans not to vote for Latino names”. Duf Sundheim, a Silicon Valley lawyer and a former chairman of the California Republican Party, was leading a cluster of Republicans trailing the two Democrats. “All she has to prove is that Kamala is more of a hippy-dippy liberal than she is”, Madrid said.
