Obama, Biden endorse Kamala Harris in California’s Senate race

In this Feb. 16, 2012 file photo, President Obama walks with California Attorney General Kamala Harris, center, and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, after arriving at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco. less In this Feb. 16, 2012 file photo, President Obama walks with California Attorney General Kamala Harris, center, and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, after arriving at San Francisco International Airport in San ... more Photo: Eric Risberg, Associated Press Photo: Eric Risberg, Associated Press Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Obama, Biden endorse Kamala Harris in California’s Senate race 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden endorsed Kamala Harris on Tuesday in California’s U.S. Senate race, a significant boost to the state attorney general in her head-to-head campaign against a fellow Democrat.

But the endorsements brought an angry response from Harris’ opponent, Rep. Loretta Sanchez of Santa Ana, who complained in a statement that Democratic Party leaders “would rather have a coronation instead of an election.”

Harris leads Sanchez 39 to 24 percent among likely voters in the November contest to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, according to a July Field Poll. But with no Republican in the race, 22 percent of the Field respondents said they were undecided, while 15 percent said “neither.”

Harris is a longtime friend of Obama’s, has campaigned frequently for him and was one of the first to get behind his first presidential run. On Tuesday, Obama said in a statement that he was endorsing Harris because “I’ve seen her work. Kamala is a lifelong courtroom prosecutor with only one client: the people of the state of California. That’s the approach she’ll take to the United States Senate.”

Lift from president

Obama praised Harris for fighting “the big banks that took advantage of homeowners across the country” during the financial crisis and said she had been a leader on same-sex marriage issues and criminal justice reform that emphasized alternatives to prison.

Biden said he first got to know Harris through his son, Beau, the former attorney general of Delaware, who died of brain cancer last year.

“I saw them take on big banks, lift up the voices of working people and protect women and children from abuse and violence. Beau always supported her, and I’m proud to support her,” Biden said in a statement.

Harris said she was honored to receive the support of two “incredible leaders for our nation.”

But Sanchez said she was disappointed Obama chose to make an endorsement in a contest between two Democrats.

“I would think the leader of the Democratic Party would be focused on defeating Donald Trump and supporting Democratic Senate candidates against Republicans,” she said in an acidic response that will win her few friends among party leaders. “I believe that California voters are deeply concerned about the entrenched political establishment which has failed to work for them. Yet ... California’s Senate seat does not belong to the political establishment — it belongs to the people of California.”

Harris has also been endorsed by the California Democratic Party and several prominent Democrats, including Gov. Jerry Brown, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee.

The two new highest-profile endorsements, coming well before the fall campaign begins to heat up, are part of Harris’ effort to steamroll Sanchez early. They also provide a none-too-subtle message to California Democrats and their allies about just where the party’s leaders are placing their bets.

That warning already has been received, as shown in Sanchez’s less-than-overwhelming list of endorsements. She has the backing of 17 of California’s 38 other Democratic members of Congress, including Rep. Anna Eshoo of Palo Alto. She also touts the support of a few labor groups, including the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific, a handful of mostly Latino state legislators and a long list of local officials, almost all from Southern California.

Her most significant support may be from a pair of Republicans, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and Hugh Hewitt, a nationally known conservative radio talk show host.

Republicans’ dilemma

With no candidate in the November Senate race, Republicans will have to decide which Democrat to support. Sanchez already is positioning herself as the better alternative for GOP voters, arguing that her years in Congress and her knowledge of military and national security issues give her an edge over the more liberal Harris.

She’s also trailing in the money race. As of May 18, the date of the most recent federal campaign finance reports, Harris had $4.7 million in her campaign treasury, compared with $1.3 million for Sanchez. While Sanchez hasn’t released her numbers for the quarter that ended June 30, the Harris campaign reported raising $2.8 million during that period, her best financial quarter to date.

Joe Garofoli and John Wildermuth are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com, jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli, @jfwildermuth