Harris
SACRAMENTO (Legal Newsline) - Kamala Harris' campaign feels she has won the intense race for California attorney general.
All precincts have reported, and Harris has nearly 15,000 more votes than her Republican opponent, Steve Cooley. However, thousands of provisional and absentee ballots must still be counted.
Cooley had a lead during early returns and even declared victory Tuesday night, but he had to cancel a victory press conference when the race got much tighter.
The Associated Press says the race is still too close to call and it may take weeks to determine the winner.
Harris' campaign, though, issued a release stating it is confident she has won.
"Uncounted ballots will only bolster Kamala Harris's lead, as they will reflect Harris's strong Election Day advantage," the release said.
"Considering that Cooley jumped out to a 50 percent to 42 percent lead on Tuesday night thanks to early absentee ballots - and considering where the vote total ended up - our model shows that Kamala Harris clearly won the vote on Election Day by 3 percent. The provisional ballots cast on Tuesday will reflect Harris's victory.
"The late absentee ballots will reflect Harris's late surge in the race - which was captured both in public and private polling."
Harris is the San Francisco district attorney. Cooley is the district attorney for Los Angeles County.
"The race for Attorney General will not be decided for at least another couple of weeks, and potentially could go until the official Certification of Vote deadline on Dec. 3," said Kevin Spillane, senior consultant for Cooley's campaign.
"We will continue to monitor the situation. The only thing we are certain of is that the final outcome will be close."
The two are vying to replace Jerry Brown, a Democrat who won election as governor Tuesday.
From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at jobrienwv@gmail.com.