President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden gave a thumping endorsement July 19, to California Attorney General Kamala Harris in her campaign for U.S. Senator.
While some may have considered the endorsement a foregone conclusion, the fact that Harris is pitted against another Democrat, Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-California, makes it a situation rife with potential intra-party divisions.
California’s open primary system means the two top vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, vie for the Nov. 8 ballot.
“I am proud to endorse Kamala Harris for United States Senate because I’ve seen her work,” Obama said in a statement. “Kamala is a lifelong courtroom prosecutor with only one client: the people of the State of California. That’s the approach she’ll take to the United States Senate,” the President added.
He lauded her for fighting special interests, big banks, transnational gangs and sex trafficking, big oil, big for-profit colleges. He also noted her stand for equal rights for the LGBTI community and criminal justice reform to prevent mass incarceration.
“Kamala Harris fights for us. That’s why I’m so proud to endorse her for United States Senator. 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,” Obama said in a thumping endorsement.
Vice President Biden also said he had seen Harris fight the big banks, be the voice of working people and protect women and children from abuse and violence. The long-time Senator from Delaware, now vice president said, “Today’s Senate needs people like her – leaders who will always fight to make a difference and who never forget where they come from.”
Harris said she was honored to receive the support of “two leaders who have worked tirelessly to improve life for our families and get results for all people.”
On July 1, some 131 state and local leaders endorsed Harris as well. According to her campaign, these included leaders from 24 counties, 14 county supervisors, 19 mayors, and 98 city council members. And in May, California Gov. Jerry Brown came on her side. In March, Harris won the Democratic Party nomination.
Sanchez’ chances improve if significant number of Republicans vote for her. However, in a Los Angeles Times mid-June poll, almost two-thirds of Republican respondents said they would not vote for any Senate candidate.
The poll also showed that Harris leads Sanchez 47 percent to 22 percent, even as 26 percent said they would not vote at all. Sanchez did beat Harris by 15 percent in securing Latino support – 45 percent to 30 percent, the Times poll showed.
Sanchez reacted the same day to Obama’s endorsement of Harris, saying she was “disappointed” that the president would intervene in a Senate race between two Democrats.
“I believe that California voters are deeply concerned about the entrenched political establishment which has failed to work for them. Yet, it has been clear for some time that the same political establishment would rather have a coronation instead of an election for California’s next U.S. Senator,” Sanchez said in a statement released by her campaign July 19.
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