California Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Kamala Harris answers questions during a town hall on Tuesday, July 12, 2016 in Oakland, California.
Advertisement
Obama previously endorsed Harris in her 2010 bid to become California attorney general.
Kamala is a lifelong courtroom prosecutor with only one client: the people of the State of California.
That criticism clashed with the president’s statement, which said Harris “fought the big banks that took advantage of homeowners across the country – and she won”.
Beyond the benefit of having the president’s blessing in a state with a strong Democratic tilt, Obama’s endorsement could open a new pipeline of national campaign dollars for Harris. “And if you send her to the Senate, she’ll be a fearless fighter for the people of California – all the people of California – every single day”.
“I am disappointed that President Obama chose to endorse in an historic Senate race between two Democrats”, Sanchez, a almost 20-year congresswoman from Orange County, said in a prepared statement that ran almost 550 words. Catherine Cortez Masto, who is also Hispanic, is the Democratic candidate for outgoing Sen. This year, Harris and Rep. Loretta Sanchez garnered the most votes, meaning no Republican is on the ballot.
The nations two top elected Democrats have taken sides in Californias contentious US Senate race, the only contest for a seat in that chamber pitting two Democrats against each other in the general election. Barbara Boxer, according to a July Field Poll.
Prominent Democrats including California Gov.
Obama reciprocated by helping to launch Harris into the national spotlight when he gave her a speaking role at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in North Carolina.
In 2013, Obama apologized to her after telling a group of wealthy donors in the Silicon Valley that she is the “best-looking attorney general”.
Still, Harris was able to talk Biden into delivering the keynote speech at the California Democratic Party’s convention in San Jose in February.
Biden, in his statement, said he got to know Harris through her work with his late son, Beau Biden, a former attorney general of Delaware. Harris attended his memorial service.
Advertisement
Sanchez took aim at what she called the “same political establishment” that she says would rather have a “coronation instead of an election for California’s next U.S. Senator”.
