Wednesday, November 10, 2010
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Cooley Takes 40,000-Vote Lead in Contest for AG
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Republican hopeful Steve Cooley has overtaken Kamala Harris in the contest for California attorney general, grabbing a lead of more than 40,000 votes as of late yesterday
Last Wednesday morning, with 100 percent of precincts reporting, but with large numbers of provisional and vote-by-mail ballots left to be counted statewide, the San Francisco district attorney and Democratic nominee was ahead by 14,838 votes. That lead stretched to about 17,000 by late Friday.
But several days of counting vote-by-mail and provisional ballots in several large counties in which Cooley did well, notably Orange, Kern, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego, moved the Los Angeles district attorney into the lead.
As of 5:06 p.m. Monday, the secretary of state reported, Cooley had 3,763,416 votes, or 46.1 percent, to Harris’ 3,722,518, or 45.6 percent, a lead of 40,958..
Officials in all counties have until Nov. 30 to certify their results. The secretary of state must declare a winner by Dec. 3, and a recount of some or all counties may be requested no later than Dec. 5.
In an email to supporters yesterday, the Cooley campaign said it was “cautiously optimistic” about the outcome, but was “building a bench of volunteers and legal professionals who can be called upon at a moment’s notice to help monitor the ballot counting process.” The campaign posted an online form that supporters can use if they wish to aid in those efforts.
Harris campaign spokesman Brian Brokaw said his side has been putting together its monitoring operation since the day after the election, and now has 1,300 volunteers in place, supplemented by the California Democratic Party and other allies who are “in close consultation with our legal team.”
A Harris victory would give Democrats a sweep of the state constitutional offices, a feat they performed in 2002. She would join Governor-elect Jerry Brown, Lt. Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, and Insurance Commissioner-elect Dave Jones, as well as three reelected officials—Treasurer Bill Lockyer, Controller John Chiang, and Secretary of State Debra Bowen.
All are lawyers except Newsom.
Copyright 2010, Metropolitan News Company