Indian-American Senator Kamala Harris leads in Daily Kos straw poll

Washington: Indian-American Senator Kamala Harris has emerged at the top of a Daily Kos straw poll released Wednesday, two days after she officially plunge in the 2020 US presidential race. Harris, 54, garnered 27 per cent of the 28,000 votes, followed by Senator Elizabeth Warren with 18 per cent, Daily Kos said Wednesday as it released the results of its second straw poll.

Former US vice president Joe Biden who has not announced his 2020 bid yet was on the third slot with 13 per cent and Senator Bernie Sanders fourth with 12 per cent. Sanders is yet to announce his candidature.

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has been at the bottom of the straw poll with just one per cent of the straw poll members voting for the first Hindu presidential candidate. Harris announced her presidential bid on Monday, the Martin Luther King Jr Day.

Within the first 24 hours of her announcement, she raised USD 1.5 million from small donors. She is not accepting donations from political action committees, a strong indication that she will not be influenced by lobbyists and special interest groups.

Fox News on Wednesday said she has hired a number of staff from the 2016 Clinton campaign. Harris has announced to hold her first presidential rally in her hometown of Oakland in California on January 27. On Wednesday, Harris slammed President Donald Trump for the ongoing partial government shutdown.

"It's completely irresponsible that this president has kept the government closed for over a month. That's 33 days of anxiety and hurt for more than 800,000 federal workers who are trying to figure out how they are going to pay their rent or mortgage," Harris said.