The United States of America will have three Asian-American women as senators soon — the most in history.
Hillary Clinton may have failed to shatter that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but Asian-American female Democrats are ready to take their seats in the Senate.
Kamala Harris and Tammy Duckworth officially won for California and Illinois, respectively, against Loretta Sanchez and Mark Kirk.
Kamala Harris
Harris is the first Indian-American elected to the Senate. She defeated fellow Democrat Loretta Sanchez by a 34.8 percentage point margin, Times of India noted. She garnered 1,904,714 votes.
Harris was born in Oakland to an Indian mother and a Jamaican-American father. That said, she also makes history as the first black senator from California.
She served as the state’s 32nd Attorney General from January 3, 2011 and was re-elected on November 4, 2014.
Tammy Duckworth
Duckworth unseated Republican Mark Kirk by taking 60% of the vote, ABC 7 Chicago noted. She amassed 1,443,857 votes.
Born in Thailand, she became the first Asian-American woman sent to Congress from Illinois in 2012, according to NBC News. She is also a veteran of the Iraq War.
She said in her victory speech:
“I will go to work in the Senate looking to honor the sacrifice and quiet dignity of those Illinoisans facing challenges of their own.”
Harris and Duckworth are joining Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, who became the very first Asian-American woman to land a seat in the Senate.
