4:19 PM: An overnight surge that carried San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris into the lead in the race for state attorney general had her campaign expressing confidence today that she would win.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting as of 12:39 p.m., Harris, a Democrat, led Republican Steve Cooley, the Los Angeles district attorney, 45.9 percent to 45.7 percent, according to the California Secretary of State’s Office.
Harris had trailed Cooley until the early morning hours.
“In spite of Steve Cooley’s Dewey-esque declaration of victory” late Tuesday night, a statement from Harris’ campaign said, “San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris will be the next attorney general of the state of California.”
Harris campaign manager Ace Smith later said in a conference call with reporters that the campaign was stopping short of declaring victory today.
“What we are declaring is our confidence in this outcome,” Smith said.
Harris this afternoon had so far received 3,292,836 votes and Cooley 3,277,998 votes.
Elections officials must still tally provisional and absentee ballots, so the results are not final.
However, Harris’ campaign asserted that “uncounted ballots will only bolster” Harris’ lead.
The campaign said they had been informed of nearly 400,000 uncounted ballots in Los Angeles County alone. Harris has so far carried that county with 53.7 percent of the vote.
“It is not unusual for several hundred thousand ballots to remain uncounted the day after an election in California,” said Nicole Winger, a spokeswoman for the Secretary of State.
Counties have 28 days following the election to complete their counts.
A spokesman for the Cooley campaign did not immediately return a call for comment.
1:48 PM: A late overnight surge in votes that carried San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris into the lead in the race for state attorney general has her campaign declaring victory today.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting as of 12:39 p.m., Harris, a Democrat, led Republican Steve Cooley, the Los Angeles district attorney, 45.9 percent to 45.7 percent, according to the California Secretary of State’s Office.
Harris had trailed Cooley until the early morning hours.
“In spite of Steve Cooley’s Dewey-esque declaration of victory” late Tuesday night, a statement from Harris’ campaign said, “San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris will be the next attorney general of the state of California.”
Harris has so far received 3,292,836 votes, and Cooley 3,277,998 votes.
Elections officials must still tally provisional and absentee ballots, so the results are not final.
However, Harris’ campaign asserted that “uncounted ballots will only bolster” Harris’ lead.
A spokesman for the Cooley campaign did not immediately return a call for comment.
Ari Burack, Bay City News
