Kamala Harris To Run For California Senate Seat: Reports

[IDemo]

Source: Huffington Post

California Attorney General Kamala Harris (D) will announce her intention to run for California's open Senate seat on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times and BuzzFeed report.

Harris, who has first elected to her post in 2010, has been widely expected to run for the seat currently occupied by Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. Boxer announced her intention to retire last week. It is the first time California has had an open Senate seat since 1992.

A Harris spokesperson did not immediately return The Huffington Post's request for comment.

Earlier Monday, California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said he would not seek the seat. Newsom hinted to the Los Angeles Times that he would support Harris if she chose to run, but denied that he and Harris had struck a deal in which he would back her Senate bid if she supported his gubernatorial aspirations.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/12/kamala-harris-senate_n_6459702.html

[bemildred]

1. I hope she does. nt

[ancianita]

2. Been waiting for this.

[roody]

3. Yippee! Now if we could only get a Dem in the Feinstein seat. eom

[24601]

11. Is Arnold running?

[olddad56]

17. that asshole should be running...away from all of the damage he casued.

[roody]

27. Is he a better Dem than Feinstein?

[dhill926]

4. very bright future for her.....

[Politicalboi]

5. I hope she runs

We don't want or need Antonio Villaraigosa. Scandal after scandal while mayor of LA.

[JDPriestly]

10. No to Villaraigosa.

[ripcord]

13. I hear that

Villaraigosa is nothing but an empty suit.

[SoapBox]

15. Absolutely NO to Villaroigosa.

Worthless....and he was a crushing disappointment.

[Big_Mike]

21. Met the man years back. An empty suit is much more interesting and capable than he is.

Met him just before his '01 run for mayor. He failed utterly to impress me.

Empty of talent, empty of ability, and empty of ethics. He cannot speak coherently nor do any of his ideas have merit. A wind vane is more true to its values than he is. Gravitas flees when Antonio enters the room.

I think that as a husband and father, he is a failure; as a human being, he is a jerk.

Much as I disliked him for being a drone, in comparison to Villaroigosa, S. I. Hiyakawa (possibly the most useless placeholder in Senate history) would place as a sterling senator.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

6. She doesn't stand a chance against

the charismatic Carly Fior........... Bwaaahaaaha I almost made it through the entire sentence with a straight face.

[IDemo]

7. I thought Demon Sheep was considering a run for POTUS

So she could layoff or outsource 47% of the country.

[Reter]

12. Or Arnie

[xxqqqzme]

16. She was on Bill Maher

last week. She's preparing to run for something. She's had her face done.

[mimi85]

29. Last week's Bill Maher

had Jay Leno on, Salmon Rushdie, Carly (gag) Fiorina (who def had her face "done&quot and Paula Begala was by far one of the most boring shows he's ever done. The new rules weren't even that great. Plus that annoying Chris Hardwick was on.

Are you thinking of Fiorina? How they could get mixed up is beyond me. And so what if Kamala's had her face done? Big deal.

[Iggo]

36. And the Chris Hardwick segment was easily the best part of that show.

Can't hit it out of the park every time, I guess.

[mimi85]

39. Chris can be funny for sure.

And yes, he was def the best part of the show. Just too hyper for me. We watched his show a couple times and couldn't handle it. WAY too speedy!

[xxqqqzme]

37. No. I was referring to carly.

some of us were just talking about her a couple of weeks ago. Wondering what she was going to screw up next?

I am supporter of Kamala Harris

[mimi85]

38. I still don't see how you thought Kamala was on Bill Maher. nt

[Control-Z]

8. Yes!

What a great choice she will be! Too bad she'd be replacing Boxer and not Feinstein.

[JI7]

9. i'm supporting her

[WillyT]

14. K & R !!!

[Hekate]

18. Excellent. She'll make a good candidate. nt

[nirvana555]

19. Yes!!!! A good friend (who called me totally bummed the other day when we first heard

About Boxer) and I were hoping it would be her. She's absolutely amazing. And I so agree with others about Villoragosa (? On spelling). He truly was a "crushing disappointment."

[davidpdx]

20. Great to hear

I hope Feinstein decides to retire in 2018 and we get a good D to replace her.

[BumRushDaShow]

22. Huzzah!

Been waiting a long time (since she won statewide office as AG) for this! Wasn't sure who she would replace (figured DiFi initially but we now know it would be Boxer),

[Bluenorthwest]

23. Kamala Harris will be the next Senator from CA

nt

[Calista241]

24. I was hoping she'd be the next Supreme Court nominee.

She's been elected to political office. She's extremely popular and she is definitely a quality lawyer.

I think the Repubs would have a hard time voting against her, and she's one of the few that Obama has a chance to get through confirmation.

Don't get me wrong, she'd be a great senator, but I think she'd be an even better Supreme Court justice.

[Dream Girl]

25. I wonder if Sheryl Sandberg will run?

She has the money, has been around politics and appears to have been positioning herself for this as well.

[mimi85]

31. Sorry, never heard of her. Maybe enlighten me?

And I was glad to see that Gavin Newsom decided to stay in CA - he wants to be governor.

[Dream Girl]

33. She is COO at Facebook, a billionaire and huge Democratic donor

quite young and a feminist; author of "Lean In" she has been positioning herself for something big for the past few years. I believe she worked in the Clinton Whitehouse. Obviously, very corporate and mainstream...an interesting mix of Washington/Silicon Valley insider.

[TeamPooka]

26. She has waffled on legalizing cannabis in the past and I hope she realizes that is going to be a

serious issue that will be on the CA ballot in 2016.
If she goes against it she could lose.

[Brother Buzz]

28. Jerry Brown opposes legalization of marijuana in California....

and handily won reelection.

I really don't think legalizing marijuana will become an emotionally charged wedge issue like abortion, gay marriage, etc.

[JI7]

30. It's also an issue that seems more effective getting done

Through county/city levels.

[Brother Buzz]

34. Like legal prostitution in Nevada?

State marijuana laws do not change the fact that using marijuana continues to be an offense under Federal law. Something about the Supremacy Clause (Article VI, clause 2) of the United States Constitution says the Feds can bust your door down in the dark of the night, and that's enough to give one pause.

[TeamPooka]

41. Jerry Brown ran against a sock puppet. Kamala win have real Democratic opposition.

[Brother Buzz]

42. California has that pesky 'Top Two Candidates Open Primary' thingy

Herding cats is easier than trying to figure what the results might be if a bunch of Democrats toss their hats into the ring. Hell, it's even possible (thank our lucky stars it's not likely) two republicans could end up on the General Election ballot.

[TeamPooka]

43. That won't happen but there could be two dem's on the ballot in Nov. One liberal and one not so much

[Brother Buzz]

44. Let's just hope the CDP is better at herding cats than the CRP

The Only Way Democrats Could Lose Barbara Boxer’s Senate Seat in 2016

Or the way Republicans could find themselves shut out of the general election altogether.

By Scott Bland
January 13, 2015

<snip>

At issue are California's new "top-two" (or "jungle&quot primaries, which have replaced party primaries with an open primary race in which the top two vote recipients—regardless of party affiliation—face off in a general election. The thinking behind the new system was to keep races competitive even in places that were traditionally "safe" areas for one party. But it also creates a scenario in which both parties face the prospect of being without a candidate in high-profile, statewide elections.

With Democrats making up 43 percent of the state's electorate in 2014 and Republicans only 28 percent, the GOP appears the more likely party to miss out on the general, and the party is steeling for the possibility. "I would hate to see a situation in California where we end up with two Democrats running against each other for the U.S. Senate seat" in the general election, said Harmeet Dhillon, the vice chairwoman of the state Republican Party. "But it's a real possibility with the top-two system."

Democrats, however, are nervously aware of a nightmare scenario of their own, in which a wealth of strong Democratic candidates divides the party faithful and leaves two Republicans alone at the top.

"The danger of top-two is getting boxed out," said Ben Tulchin, a San Francisco-based Democratic pollster. "Say you have two Republicans fairly evenly matched, and then a large and diverse field of Democrats splitting the vote—say four or more Democrats ... with different factions of the Democratic vote."

<more>

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/the-only-way-democrats-could-lose-barbara-boxer-s-senate-seat-in-2016-20150113

"NEVER underestimate the ability of the Democrats to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory", so says the cynic sage.

[shanti]

32. i'll vote for her

she's a smart cookie. i wouldn't vote for villaigrosa for dogcatcher.

[mimi85]

40. I would also, but there has been some criticism

that she practically was just sworn in as attorney general and now she'd have to focus on campaign strategies instead of her job as AG. I don't agree, but that's the chatter I'm hearing.

[calimary]

35. That would be a nice next-generation move - Kamala Harris for the Senate and Gavin Newsom

for governor. That'd be pretty doggone neat! I'd vote for both of them! I sure will miss Barbara Boxer, though.