In a surprisingly close race for California Attorney General, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, a Democrat, squeezed past her GOP opponent, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, to take a narrow lead, says the San Francisco Chronicle. With tens of thousands of absentee and provisional ballots still uncounted, the final result will probably remain unknown for weeks. The San Francisco prosecutor led by only 14,800 votes – about 0.2 percent – in a race where more than 7 million ballots were cast.
Cooley, a moderate Republican who has been elected three times in the Democratic stronghold of Los Angeles County, was considered the favorite. He ran on a traditional law-and-order platform, while Harris focused on less typical issues including shrinking the state’s recidivism rate and tackling school truancy. Harris was dogged on the campaign trail by her liberal background, particularly her opposition to the death penalty.