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| California Attorney General Kamala Harris (left) with U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein |
Harris, 46, was San Francisco's District Attorney from 2004-2011, and is the daughter of a Jamaican father and a Tamil Indian mother. She is unmarried.
Showing posts with label CA-AG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CA-AG. Show all posts
Kamala Harris Inaugurated As California Attorney General
Harris, 46, was San Francisco's District Attorney from 2004-2011, and is the daughter of a Jamaican father and a Tamil Indian mother. She is unmarried.
CA-AG: Cooley Concedes! Kamala Harris Wins!
The next Attorney General of California (will be a Black/multiracial woman)
As MadProfessah has been saying for awhile, Kamala Harris will be the next Attorney General of California, after all. Her opponent Steve Cooley finally officially conceded the race today as it became more and more apparent that Harris' current lead in the excruciatingly close race was insurmountable.
The latest tally has Harris with 4,376,509 votes (or 46.0%) versus 4,324,924 votes (or 45.5%) for Cooley, a lead of 51,585 votes out of 9.5 million votes cast for Attorney General (there were 4 minor party candidates). Note, starting in November 2010 general election ballots in California will only ever have two candidates (with no write-in provision), thanks to the ill-conceived Proposition 14 which passed in June 2010. That, along with "non-partisan, "citizen-driven" re-districting should make 2012 a wild and crazy year for electoral politics, even in the deep blue state of California.
It should also be noted that Cooley received some 300,000 votes more than his party's ill-fated standard bearer, failed gubernatorial candidate ("such a lovely ring to it, dontcha think?" Meg Whitman and 150,000 votes more than that (rhymes with "witch") failed U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina.
It also means that the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General all explicitly support marriage equality and oppose defending Proposition 8 in court. since they believe it is unconstitutional. In fact, I would wager every single statewide elected official in California supports marriage equality at this point (since they are all Democrats!)
It should also be noted that Cooley received some 300,000 votes more than his party's ill-fated standard bearer, failed gubernatorial candidate ("such a lovely ring to it, dontcha think?" Meg Whitman and 150,000 votes more than that (rhymes with "witch") failed U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina.
It also means that the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General all explicitly support marriage equality and oppose defending Proposition 8 in court. since they believe it is unconstitutional. In fact, I would wager every single statewide elected official in California supports marriage equality at this point (since they are all Democrats!)
CA-AG: Harris Has Insurmountable Lead of 43,050!
Kamala Harris now leads Steve Cooley by 43,050 votes (4,291,854 or 46.0% to 4,248,804 or 45.5%). According to the Secretary of State's office (pdf) there are are now 629,634 unprocessed ballots, with 361,588 provisional ballots and 228,854 vote-by-mail ballots. Los Angeles County has the most number of outstanding ballots, left to be counted 93,590 (73,928 of which are provisional). 82% of provisional ballots are usually counted. The thing to note is that Harris won on election day (when provisional ballots are turned in by approximate 3 percentage points and she lost vote-by-mail ballots by 8 percentage points. Of the ballots left to count, Cooley should be expected to have a net gain of 10K-20K votes at most.
(He wins VBM ballots netting approximately 20K votes but loses provisional ballots by 8K votes.)
Basically, we are where we were on election night when Harris had a slim lead but today there are far less votes to be counted, dramatically reducing Cooley's chances of retaking the lead. I'm still slightly worried that the percentage of votes left to be counted consists of less than 20% from Los Angeles County, but Harris won other relatively large counties by good margins as well. Also, there are some indications that the unprocessed ballot number is too high, making things even tougher for Cooley.
It is mathematically possible for Cooley to win but the probabilities are in the 1-2% range (he would have to win the outstanding ballots at net rates of 7-8% which the rest of the sample simply does not reflect). Los Angeles County Council President Eric Garcetti (and former Occidental College professor) called the race for Harris yesterday and urged media outlets to do the math to show how slim the possibility of Cooley winning actually is. Garcetti actually estimates that there are far LESS uncounted votes than in the unprocessed ballot status page since some of the counties have not updated their numbers in over two weeks and the total vote count is approaching 9.6 million. We'll probably hit 10 million votes cast statewide by the time everything is counted and certified next month.
CA-AG: Harris Regains Lead From Cooley
In the insanely close race for Attorney General of California, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris has regained the lead from Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley after trailing for most of the last week a (wait for it!) 14,043 votes out of nearly 9 million votes cast (4,083,742 to 4,069,699 with another 750k to "minor party" candidates).
However, the remaining votes to be counted are almost entirely provisional ballots which were cast on the day of the election, where Harris is estimated to have outpolled Cooley by 3 percentage points. It is becoming increasingly likely that Harris will be the first Black woman to be California Attorney General and the first Black person to be elected statewide in over 3 decades!
CA-AG: Harris Lead Now Down To 4 Digits
In the down-to-the-wire election for California Attorney General ,Kamala Harris's slim lead over Steve Cooley has been significantly reduced to 9,364 (out of over 7 million total) as numbers come in around the state, although the campaign is still expressing confidence since there are nearly one million outstanding ballots, most of which were cast within the last few days of the election when Harris was clearly leading. (In order to have a lead now, Harris must have received more votes on Election Day itself, and historically absentee and provisional votes follow the pattern of election day ballots.)
The latest tally is:
I am still relatively confident that Harris will win, but it's gnna be a squeaker. It may even involve a recount!
The latest tally is:
| Candidate | Votes | Percent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kamala D. Harris (Dem) | 3,307,599 | 45.9% | |
| Steve Cooley (Rep) | 3,298,235 | 45.8% | |
| Diane Beall Templin (AI) | 125,507 | 1.7% | |
| Peter Allen (Grn) | 185,729 | 2.5% | |
| Timothy J. Hannan (Lib) | 180,682 | 2.5% | |
| Robert J. Evans (P&F) | 117,303 | 1.6% | |
I am still relatively confident that Harris will win, but it's gnna be a squeaker. It may even involve a recount!
Kamala Harris Now Holds Slim Lead Before Absentees Counted
San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris
The latest numbers (100% of precincts counted) from the Secretary of State Debra Bowen (who was re-elected last night) show that San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris has a pretty good chance to become the first female attorney general of California:
Kamala D. Harris DEM 3,292,836 45.9%
Steve Cooley REP 3,277,998 45.7%
Timothy J. Hannan LIB 179,594 2.5%
Peter Allen GRN 184,841 2.6%
Diane Beall Templin AI 124,841 1.7%
Robert J. Evans PF 116,690 1.6%
That's a lead of 14,838 votes. There are still absentee ballots and provisional ballots outstanding. Absentee tend to be more conservative than the electorate while provisional can be either liberal or conservative, so basically all we can say is that Harris has done amazingly well in her first statewide race for office. Even if she loses the race, maybe she should consider running for Dianne Feinstein's U.S. Senate seat in 2012?
UPDATE 11/03/2010 4:37PM
The Registrar Recorder/County Clerk of Los Angeles County is reporting that it has some 399,960 votes to be counted. Assuming that Harris maintains her 53%-39% edge in these Los Angeles County ballots, then this should results in at least an increase in Harris' lead of 50,000 votes (assuming a 12-13 point lead for Harris in these ballots). I think we can safely say that Harris has pulled this one out. In the rest of the counties there are probably no more than 800,000-1,200,000 votes to be counted, since Los Angeles generally has about 1/3-1/4 of all votes cast statewide. Cooley would have to win all those non-LA County ballots by a greater margin than 53-47 (or 6 percentage points more than Harris) assuming there are 1.2 million ballots outstanding, and would have to win by a margin greater than 54-46 (or 8 percentage points greater than Harris) if there are only 800,000 non-LA ballots outstanding to be counted. Both scenarios seem to me to give Cooley a very unlikely chance of winning. Of course it's possible, but not very probable, that the outstanding ballots could have an overwhelmingly different character than all other ballots and be very pro-Cooley but that's a very low probability possibility. Congrats to Attorney-General-elect Kamala Harris!
Saturday Politics: Field Poll Says Newsom Leads; Harris Tied With Cooley
I'm pretty sure Gavin will win the LG race but I'm worried about the AG race. The internal details from Field are below:
Cooley and Harris are obtaining broad support of rank-and-file voters within their own respective parties. Among Republicans, Cooley is preferred 71% to 6%, while Democrats are supporting Harris 68% to 13%. Non-partisans and those registered with minor parties, who represent 17% of likely voters, are narrowly backing Harris by a 34% to 32% margin.
Cooley is maintaining large preference leads among voters in the traditionally Republican-leaning regions of Southern California outside of Los Angeles County (47% to 28%) and the Central Valley (44% to 30%). In his home county of Los Angeles, Cooley narrowly trails Harris 43% to 37%. Harris is preferred by a nearly two-to-one margin (52% to 27%) in the San Francisco Bay region where she lives. She also leads in less populated areas of Northern California outside the Bay Area (45% to 23%).
There is also a big coastal county-inland county divide in voter preferences in the A-G race. Cooley leads by eighteen points (46% to 28%) among voters in the state’s less populous inland counties, while Harris is preferred by six points (42% to 36%) among voters living in counties bordering the Pacific Ocean or San Francisco Bay.
Women are backing Harris by eleven points, 43% to 32%. Men are supporting Cooley by twelve points (45% to 33%).
Voters age 65 or older are backing Cooley by five points (44% to 39%). He leads among voters age 40–49 (39% to 34%). Harris is leading Cooley by four points (40% to 36%) among voters 50–64. Voters under age 40 are about evenly divided in their preferences.
White non-Hispanics favor Cooley by eight points (43% to 35%). Harris is preferred by large margins among Latinos and African-Americans. Each of the three Asian-American voter segments examined by the poll were dividing their preferences fairly evenly between the candidates, although large proportions remained undecided.
Cooley is preferred by two points (40% to 38%) among the 55% of voters who either already have voted by mail or intend to do so in the coming days. Among the 21% of voters who have already voted Cooley’s lead is even wider – 46% to 38%. Voters intending to vote at their local precinct on Election Day are evenly divided, 37% for Cooley and 37% for Harris.
MadProfessah Endorsements for CA's November 2, 2010 General Election
Finally, the moment you have been waiting for! Here are MadProfessah's positions on how I will be voting in the November 2 Statewide General Election, compared with endorsements from other organizations like the Los Angeles Times, Calitics.com, CA Democratic Party, Los Angeles County Democratic Party, Stonewall Democratic Club (LGBT group), CA League of Women Voters and Courage Campaign's Progressive Voter Guide. Previously, I had posted my endorsements for the June 8, 2010 primary election.
Jerome Horton is an African-American incumbent, but when he was in the state legislature he was an unreliable vote on LGBT issues. He has since tried to make amends, but MadProfessah can not in good conscience endorse him, although I will note that the Stonewall Democrats have.
There are several judicial races on the ballot for which it is often hard to get information on.
There are numerous openly LGBT people running for elected office. John Noguez for Los Angeles County Assessor. In statewide legislative districts there is Ricardo Lara (AD-50) and John Perez (AD-46).
Proposition ME LAT CALITICS CA DEM LA DEM LWV
19 (Marijuana) YES NO YES --- YES ---
20 (Redistricting) NO YES NO NO NO NO
21 (State Parks) YES NO YES YES YES ---
22 (Local Funds) NO NO --- NO NO ---
23 (Suspends AB-32)NO NO NO NO NO NO
24 (Ends Tax Cuts) YES NO YES YES YES YES
25 (Majority Vote) YES YES YES YES YES YES
26 (2/3 Fee Vote) NO NO NO NO NO NO
27 (Undoes Prop 11)YES NO YES YES YES NO
Statewide Races ME LA TIMES DEMOCRATS
Governor Brown Brown Brown
U.S. Senator Boxer* Boxer* Boxer*
Lieutenant Governor Newsom Newsom Newsom
Attorney General Harris Cooley Harris
Secretary of State Bowen* Bowen* Bowen*
Treasurer Lockyer* Lockyer* Lockyer*
Controller Chiang* Chiang* Chiang*
Insurance Commissioner Jones Jones Jones
Supt. of Public Inst. Torlakson Aceves Torlakson
Bd. of Equalization, #1 Yee* --- Yee*
Bd. of Equalization, #2 --- --- Parker
Bd. of Equalization, #3 --- --- Christian-Heising
Bd. of Equalization, #4 --- --- Horton*
Jerome Horton is an African-American incumbent, but when he was in the state legislature he was an unreliable vote on LGBT issues. He has since tried to make amends, but MadProfessah can not in good conscience endorse him, although I will note that the Stonewall Democrats have.
There are several judicial races on the ballot for which it is often hard to get information on.
Other Races ME LA TIMES DEMOCRATS
CA Sup. Crt. Chief Justice ---- Cantil-Sakauye
CA Sup. Crt. Justice Moreno Moreno Moreno
CA Sup. Crt. Justice ---- Chin ---
Superior Court, No. 28 Ameli Hammock AmeliSuperior Court, No. 117 Schneider Schneider Schneider
L.A. County Assessor Noguez Yong Noguez
Additionally, every Court of Appeals Justice and three State Supreme Court justices are up for re-election (or re-appointment). The Los Angeles Times basically says that every incumbent justice is worthy of re-election. However, Justice Carlos Moreno is the only State Supreme Court justice that thought Proposition 8 violated the state constitution. Ming Chin was in the minority of the 2008 In Re Marriage Cases decision and should NOT be re-appointed. Tani Cantil-Sakauye is Governor Schwarzenegger's nominee to replace Chief Justice Ron George; if approved she'll be the first female and Phillipine-American to head California's highest court. Since we know so little about her, I can't support voting to confirm her. I think it's silly that George didn't wait until the new Governor to be elected before retiring earlier this year anyway.There are numerous openly LGBT people running for elected office. John Noguez for Los Angeles County Assessor. In statewide legislative districts there is Ricardo Lara (AD-50) and John Perez (AD-46).
WATCH: EQCA Tries To "Shame" Whitman and Cooley
In light of statements by Republican candidates Steve Cooley and Meg Whitman that they would defend any court ruling in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case striking down Proposition 8 as unconstitutional, Equality Califorina is launching the following television ads.
Whitman's gubernatorial opponent, Jerry Brown, is the current Attorney General and has refused to defend Proposition 8, as has current Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris is running against Cooley for Attorney general and has said she would not defend Proposition 8 in court because she feel it is unconstitutional.
The ads are set to begin airing on Monday, September 27, and will run on the CNN, FOX and MSNBC affiliates in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego and Palm Springs metropolitan areas
Whitman's gubernatorial opponent, Jerry Brown, is the current Attorney General and has refused to defend Proposition 8, as has current Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris is running against Cooley for Attorney general and has said she would not defend Proposition 8 in court because she feel it is unconstitutional.
The ads are set to begin airing on Monday, September 27, and will run on the CNN, FOX and MSNBC affiliates in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego and Palm Springs metropolitan areas
CA GOV and CA AG Oppose Stay in Prop 8 Case
The State of California filed motions today opposing a stay in Judge Vaughn Walker's landmark decision ruling Proposition 8 unconstitutional; in other words Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown are on record saying they want same-sex couples to be able to get married while the decision is on appeal.
As governor, Schwarzenegger is named as a defendant in the case, although he remained neutral in the lawsuit challenging Proposition 8. The governor was against the initiative when it was on the ballot and chose not to defend the constitutional amendment in court. He filed his brief Friday in his role as a named defendant and on behalf of two other administration officials.
The Schwarzenegger administration contended in the brief that there is no governmental or public interest in continuing a ban on gay marriage after Walker's decision." Instead, the administration said that allowing such marriages to resume would further the state's interest in recognizing the rights of gays and lesbians. It also said that there would be no administrative burden for the state to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. California issued 18,000 such licenses before passage of Proposition 8.
Schwarzenegger applauded Walker's decision earlier this week.
"For the hundreds of thousands of Californians in gay and lesbian households who are managing their day-to-day lives, this decision affirms the full legal protections and safeguards I believe everyone deserves," the governor said in a statement Wednesday.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown, a Democrat, filed a similar motion. Brown had argued that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional when the measure went before the California Supreme Court last year.
Read Attorney General's motion below.
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