ABSTRACT
In the 2016 race for the California Senate position, there were two Democrats on the ballot. Kamala Harris is the highest-ranking black politician in the state of California. Loretta Sánchez is a Latina US Representative who has spent over twenty years working in Congress. The race between them became very competitive. When President Obama and his administration endorsed Harris for the Senate position, Sanchez was extremely displeased. “I don't know why the leadership of the party did not want a Latino; they did not speak with us,” Sanchez said. “They chose [Harris] from the beginning” (Willon and Ulloa 2016). Sanchez insinuated that since President Obama, like Kamala Harris, is African American, that influenced the administration’s endorsement decision (Mai-Duc 2016; Michaelson 2016; Willon and Ulloa 2016).
