Ami Bera, Kamala Harris Endorsed By Democratic Party

Sacramento, CA: Rep. Ami Bera, D-Sacramento, who is seeking reelection to US Congress and California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat, have received endorsements from the California Democratic Party, during the state convention on February 27th.

Bera, who has been in an ongoing battle with Sikh Americans and labor groups in his district – CD-7 – handily won his endorsement, gaining nearly 90 percent of the vote. Fifty people voted for the sole Indian American in Congress, while six voted against him. Bera – who is seeking his third term in office – is running unopposed in the primary election June 7. He will face Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones – a Republican – in the general election Nov. 8.

“I’m proud that local Sacramento County Democrats voted to award me the state party’s endorsement,” Bera said after the vote. “I came to Washington to fix Congress, and to help the working parents, business owners, seniors, and many others in my district get ahead and, today, these fine people recognized this. They know that I went to DC to fix a broken Congress, something I will never stop working to do,” said the physician, who formerly served as the chief medical officer for Sacramento County.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, told party delegates before the endorsement vote was taken that Bera’s position on TPA was different from her position, but that his vote on the issue should not be the sole basis for his re-election. “He is a valued member of the Congress. He has a great base of support at the grassroots level and I think he will win,” said Pelosi.

Kamala Harris also handily won her endorsement from the California Democratic Party, winning more than 78 percent of the vote. Harris is battling Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Orange County, and Republican contender Duf Sundheim, an attorney who formerly served as the state’s Republican Party chairman. California’s open primary allows the top two vote getters from either party to go on to the general election.

In her speech before the endorsement vote, Harris – who served as San Francisco’s District Attorney before ascending to the post of Attorney General in 2012 – chronicled her youth growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, as the daughter of two civil rights activists. She spoke about the hateful rhetoric spewing out of the Republican Party and vowed to protect the fundamental rights of all U.S. residents. “For far too many, liberty and justice for all is a promise we have failed to keep,” said Harris.

After the vote, Harris’s campaign sent out a statement late Feb. 27. “I’m incredibly honored to have the endorsement of the California Democratic Party in the U.S. Senate race, and I’m so proud of the support our campaign has received from every corner of our state,” she said. “We know there is more that unites us than divides us, and I’m grateful to the Californians who joined together to send that message this weekend,” said Harris.