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Kamala Harris becomes first ever Indian-American to win US Senate seat

News Agencies | Updated on: 10 February 2017, 1:40 IST

Kamala Harris, California's Attorney General, went on to win the US Senate seat from the state of California on 9 November, scripting history as the first Indian-American to achieve the feat.

Harris, 51, who defeated fellow Democrat Loretta Sanchez, is also the sixth person of colour to be elected to the U.S. Senate. U.S. President Barack Obama was the fifth person of colour to be elected Senator.

She is the first woman of colour elected to the upper chamber in more than two decades.

Her mother Shyamala Gopalan came to the U.S. from Chennai to study science, specifically endocrinology and complex mechanisms of cancer.

Her father Donald grew up in Jamaica, where he became a national scholar and earned the opportunity to study economics.

Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California. A two-term Attorney General of California, Harris defeated Ms. L Sanchez from her own party.

She would replace Barbara Boxer who announced her retirement in 2014 after serving more than two decades in the Senate.

--PTI

First published: 9 November 2016, 2:00 IST