As Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) has campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination, her four years at Howard have become central to her personal narrative and political identity. 

To those who see her white husband and question her time in California as a prosecutor in a justice system that disproportionately punishes people of color, Howard has been her rejoinder. It’s her knowing nod to black voters and a character witness for anyone who says her personal heritage is disconnected from the African Americans’ history.

“It was such a conscious decision to surround herself in a black environment,” writer Robin Givhan says, “one that was really rooted in the history of blacks in America, one that — in particular — celebrated black exceptionalism. It seems to speak very deeply to the way that she defined herself.”

For the second time this year, Israelis cast their ballots after Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s longest-running prime minister, failed to form a majority coalition in April. 

Although more than 90 percent of votes have been counted, it looks like “a dead heat between the two largest parties,” says Ruth Eglash, who covers Israel and the Paliestinian territories. 

The two parties are the conservative Likud, and the left-centrist Blue and White party. Eglash says that, so far, it appears that Likud and Netanyahu still do not have the numbers to form a coalition. 

“He is really known as the political Houdini in Israel, or ‘King Bibi’ even,” she says. “But it really comes down to the numbers.” 

There’s one thing that Hillary Clinton supporters can generally agree on, reporter Caroline Kitchener says. 

“The number-one priority among Hillary die-hards is beating Donald Trump,” Kitchener says. “Every single person that I spoke to said that no matter who the nominee is, they will vote for that nominee.”

Beyond this consensus, pre-election allegiances are murky. Some expected former Clinton voters to dutifully enlist with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), another white woman in her 70s who talks policy. Others feel that the group should align with Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) or take refuge in former vice president Joe Biden, whom they think stands a fighting chance against President Trump. 

“One of the women that I spoke to said this is not about being inspirational,” Kitchener says. “This is not about being historic. This is about winning.”