Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) has become a major contender to be Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s running mate as the search nears its end, The Washington Post reports. Duckworth, who has Chinese and Thai ancestry, is one of several women of color in consideration and is the only finalist who has military combat experience, having received a Purple Heart and fought in the Iraq War. “You had all the other names there, and it was as if she didn’t exist,” former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who has discussed the search for a vice presidential candidate with the Biden campaign, told the Post. “And suddenly people began to look at her—this highly decorated woman, member of Congress, senator.” Biden has publicly said his running mate would be a woman. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) also have been named as potential running mates.