Harris and Loretta Sanchez are currently head-to-head in the running for Senate seat.
AB Wire
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday formally announced they are backing California Attorney General Kamala Harris, a longtime political ally of the president, in California’s historic Senate election in November.
The president praised Harris as a “lifelong courtroom prosecutor” who fought international gangs, oil companies and the big banks responsible for the mortgage crisis.
“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,” the president said in a statement released by the Harris campaign and Democratic National Committee.
Harris and Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez are currently head-to-head in the running to win the Democrat-on-Democrat race for Senate seat. This is the first time that two Democrat minority women are fighting for the open seat.
Harris already has support from the California Democratic Party and Gov. Jerry Brown along with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a favorite of the left.
Harris has worked with the president over the years, even before he burst onto the national political scene. Harris supported and raised money for Obama when he ran for the US Senate in Illinois.
Even though Harris and Biden largely operated in separate political spheres, Harris worked extensively with Biden’s late son, Beau Biden, when he served as Delaware’s attorney general. She also attended his memorial service.
“Beau always supported her, and I’m proud to support her candidacy for the United States Senate,” Biden said in a statement.
Harris and Sanchez earned the most votes in the June primary to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer.
“I’m of course, humbled and honored to have the endorsement,” Harris said.
Harris has more than three-to-one advantage in fundraising over Sanchez, but the congresswoman is not worried.
“I’m going up and down the state, and I’m doing it the old fashioned way. I’m earning people’s votes, I’m talking to people and we’re raising money,” Sanchez said.
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Patrick Kennedy endorses Loretta Sanchez for Senate
Rep. Loretta Sanchez (J. Scott Applewhite / AP)
Former Democratic Rhode Island Rep.Patrick Kennedy on Thursday endorsed Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Orange) for U.S. Senate, praising her work in Congress to protect people with mental illness.
Kennedy, the youngest son of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, served in Congress with Sanchez for 14 years.
“I have worked side-by-side with Loretta Sanchez in Congress and I know first-hand her strong commitment to supporting mental health equity policy and helping Americans and their families who are struggling with this disease,” Kennedy said in a statement released by the Sanchez campaign.