California Attorney General Kamala Harris will seek the open U.S. Senate seat of retiring congressional veteran Barbara Boxer.
Harris, 50, and California's first black, female South Asian AG, announced her intention to run via Facebook on Tuesday,
The Wall Street Journal reported.
"I’m excited to share with you that I’m launching my campaign to be a voice for the people of California in the United States Senate
— and I need your help to build a grassroots campaign that reaches all across our state," Harris posted.
Harris, a native of Oakland and a former prosecutor, had been mentioned as a possible gubernatorial candidate when current California Gov. Jerry Brown leaves office in 2018.
But with the retirement announcement of Boxer last week after serving in the Senate since 1993, Harris, a Democrat, made clear her ambitions to lead in Washington.
"I want to be a fighter for families feeling the pinch of stagnant wages and diminishing opportunity, for students burdened by predatory lenders and skyrocketing tuition, for our immigrant communities and for our seniors," Harris said in outlining her platform.
Harris could already have a competitor, however. U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez announced Tuesday that she, too, may run. "I am seriously considering running for the United States Senate in 2016," Sanchez, 55, who has served in Congress for 18 years, said in a statement posted on her Facebook account,
the Los Angeles Times reported.
"For the past 18 years, I have focused on putting California’s working families first. From immigration reform to affordable healthcare to funding quality education, I have advocated for policies that give all families the same access to the American Dream," Sanchez, who represents an Orange County district, posted on her Facebook page.
"Californians deserve a strong voice in Washington and I have never been afraid to speak up … "
Harris marks a new wave of ethnically diverse and professional successful women from a new generation, the Atlantic noted.
"Harris is the kind of candidate both parties dream of: young [for a politician, at least; she's 50], charismatic, multi-ethnic, accomplished,"
the Atlantic wrote, noting she once turned the head of President Barack Obama who apologized after publicly calling her "the best-looking attorney general in the country."
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