It’s looking more likely that Democrat Kamala Harris will be California’s next attorney general, as the San Francisco prosecutor continues to hold on to her lead in the still-undecided race, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. In the days after the Nov. 2 election, the results had see-sawed between Harris and her Republican opponent, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley. For the last week, Harris has maintained a comfortable lead – as of Friday she was up by about 43,000 votes. There are still an estimated 500,000 ballots left to be counted in a race where more than 8.4 million votes have already been tallied.
Political observers on both sides of the aisle say it is likely Harris will keep a solid lead and ultimately win the contest. In San Francisco, people are discussing Harris’ possible replacement. Former San Francisco Police Commissioner David Onek, a senior fellow at the University of California Berkeley Center for Criminal Justice, announced he would run for Harris’ seat months ago. Jim Hammer, a former prosecutor who serves on the San Francisco Police Commission, is also eyeing the position. Deputy District Attorney Paul Henderson has been positioning himself as a potential successor for years. Judge Katherine Feinstein’s name often comes up as a favorite of Mayor Gavin Newsom. It is not clear whether the Superior Court jurist, the daughter of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, would want to vacate the bench for a political position.