California Attorney General Kamala Harris easily came through as the victor in the state’s Senate primary, beating out her competition with 40 percent of the vote, based on 76 percent of precincts reporting, the Washington Post reports.
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. Barbara Boxer. The matchup, the Los Angeles Times reports, signals the first time that California has sent off two Democrats for the general election— leaving out a Republican candidate—since the state’s first direct election of senators in 1914.
“I am just thrilled. I am a proud daughter of California, and I cannot be more proud than I am tonight,” Harris told voters in San Francisco, according to the Post. “We have run a campaign, and we will continue to run a campaign, that is about fighting for the ideals of our country. We have so many challenges as a country, and we are prepared to lead,” she said, citing passing comprehensive immigration reform, combating climate change, reforming the criminal-justice system and “eliminating that income divide that is making so many families suffer.”
According to the Post, both women drew attention early on because each would take a place in history if elected. Harris would be the second black woman elected to the Senate, while Sanchez would be among the first Latinas. Another Latina, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, is running for Sen. Harry Reid’s seat in Nevada.
Read more at the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.