Earlier in the day, Sanchez hinted they she planned to attack Harris’ record.
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Republican candidates were shut out in the race for California’s open U.S. Senate seat, but GOP voters could play a key role in November in determining which of two Democratic women goes to Washington.
With 16 percent of precincts reporting in early returns on Tuesday, Harris, 51, led the crowded field of 34 candidates with 40 percent of the vote.
The other leading Democrat in the race, Orange County Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, claimed success as well – hours before the AP projected she would advance.
Another 4.9 percent of voters chose one of five other Democratic Party candidates. “None of the Republican candidates got any traction”, she said.
The vote Tuesday resulted in a historic first, when Californians sent two Democrats, both minority women, to the November runoff.
Mrs Clinton hailed “the first time in our nation’s history that a woman will be a major party’s nominee”. He estimates when all the ballots are counted, the primary will show 45 percent turnout and he anticipates about 75 percent turnout in November.
With the fog of the all-consuming spring presidential contest lifting, Sanchez could expect more attention, an overall benefit for an underfunded candidate, said Katie Merrill, a California Democratic strategist not involved in the race.
“You are going into a whole different election”, he said. It will be the first time a Republican will not be on the state’s November ballot.
People will naturally be drawn to a contest between Harris, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, and Sanchez, whose parents are from Mexico, Merrill said.
“There are all sorts of differences between Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez, but obviously, gender is not one of them”, politics director Dan Schnur of the University of Southern California told MSNBC. Barbara Boxer when she retires at the end of her current term.
She stressed she is the only candidate in the race with national security experience, noting her service on the House Armed Services Committee and Homeland Security Committee that makes her “well-versed in issues of defense, foreigh relations and national security – issues that a U.S. Senator must be familiar with if they are to cast votes to confirm presidential appointments or ratify treaties”. Of African-American and Indian descent, she was raised amid civil rights activism in Berkeley and Oakland, eventually becoming a prosecutor in San Francisco. Sanchez was at 17 percent, with about 640,000 votes.
In the face of long odds, Sanchez and her campaign team sound undaunted. “Harris comes off as very polished, very professional and Sanchez doesn’t”.
Republican voter registration in the state has withered to 27 percent, while Democrats are at 45 percent, giving the party a 3.1-million edge in voters over the GOP.
Clegg and other Harris campaign strategists ticked off a list of Harris’ strong showing among primary voters in every region of the state and every ethnic group.
“It’s obvious Republicans don’t have a Republican choice. That’s a reality”, he said. But “we are going to try to appeal to everybody”.
In total, seven Democrats, 12 Republicans, one member of the Green Party, two Libertarians, one member of the Peace and Freedom party and 11 independents ran for one of the two spots on the ballot.
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“Whoever can speak to the values of conservatives and moderates will win”, Steel predicted.
