Howard Alumna Kamala Harris Wins California State Primary

California Attorney General and Howard University Alumna Kamala Harris won the state’s Senate primary with 40 percent of the vote based on 76 percent of precincts reporting, the Washington Post reports. The primary took place on June 7, 2016.

Kamala Harris on the ballot for the general election

Harris will now be facing Democrat Rep. Loretta Sanchez of Orange County, who trailed behind Harris with 16 percent of the vote, for the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. This is the first time that California is sending two Democrats for the general election and not a Republican candidate since the state’s first direct election of senators in 1914, the Los Angeles Times reports.

“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,” Kamala Harris said.

Both women will make history if elected, the Washington Post reports. Harris would be the second black woman elected to the Senate and Sanchez would be among the first Latinas. Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, another Latina, is running for Sen. Harry Reid’s seat in Nevada.

The general election will take place on November 8, 2016.

Source: BlackPressUSA.com / National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)