Three female Asian American politicians — Kamala Harris, Pramila Jayapal and Tammy Duckworth — made history last night as they were elected to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
In California, voters elected Harris, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, making her first Indian American ever elected to the Senate. Harris, 52, currently serves as California’s Attorney General and entered the race when Barbara Boxer announced her intentions to retire.
Harris, backed by her platform of criminal justice and immigration reform, equal pay policies, education and tackling climate change, beat out her opponent, fellow Democrat Loretta Sanchez, by the highest margin by a non-incumbent senator since 1916, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Joining her in Congress will be Pramila Jayapal, the first Indian American woman to hold a seat in the U.S House of Representatives. Jayapal, who currently holds a seat as a Democratic senator for the state of Washington, beat out Brady Walkinshaw, another Democrat, with 57 percent of the vote. She was elected to the state senate in 2014, and earned an endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders earlier this year.
“Pramila helped lead the fight for paid sick leave and a $15 minimum wage in Seattle,” Sanders wrote in a fundraising email . “She’s not afraid to take on powerful special interests. She’s fought for immigrant rights, opposed the war in Iraq, and worked to protect Social Security.”
Over in Illinois, wounded Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth unseated Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, becoming the second woman and first Thai American to represent Illinois in the Senate.
In October, Kirk made racially insensitive comments about Duckworth’s family heritage and military history, which prompted her to later respond that Kirk was “unhinged.” Duckworth, a 48-year-old Democratic congresswoman who lost both of her legs in a helicopter crash in Iraq, was beating Kirk 55 to 40 percent with 91 percent of the precincts tallied. In her victory speech, she promised “economic justice” for everyone.
“I am here today because of public schools, food stamps, Pell Grants and safety nets designed to help people who have been knocked down — and I’m proud of it,” Duckworth said.
