Harris
SACRAMENTO (Legal Newsline) - Republican Steve Cooley, foreseeing his defeat, conceded on Friday in the seemingly neverending race to be California's next attorney general.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney issued the following statement:
"While the margin is extremely narrow and ballots are still being counted, my campaign believes that we cannot make up the current gap in the vote count for Attorney General. Therefore, I am formally conceding the race and congratulate Ms. (Kamala) Harris on becoming California's next Attorney General.
"We started this campaign late but we won an exceptionally tough Republican primary by a decisive margin. In the general election, we emerged as California's top Republican vote getter and carried 39 out of the state's 58 counties. We also cut by more than half the margin of loss by the GOP ticket in heavily Democratic Los Angeles County. It was gratifying to have received the votes of over 4 million Californians.
"It is unfortunate that someone who is a non-partisan non-politician could not overcome the increasingly partisan tendencies of the state, even for an office that by its nature necessitates a non-partisan approach," he said.
Cooley went on to thank his supporters and campaign team for their efforts.
"We had many old friends -- and made many new ones across the state -- who stepped up to help our campaign. My campaign team did an exceptional job guiding someone who had never previously thought of running for statewide office through two very difficult elections," he said.
Cooley, who called the campaign a "fascinating" and "very positive" experience, said he will complete his third term as district attorney.
"I take great satisfaction in being able to still work with the tremendous professionals who do such an outstanding job in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office. I look forward to continuing to serve the people of Los Angeles County as District Attorney with the same commitment and enthusiasm I have always demonstrated," he said.
The Democrat Harris invited the public to attend a "special announcement" and "celebration" on Tuesday evening at the Delancey Street Foundation in San Francisco, according to a Facebook event invitation sent out by her campaign.
Cooley had initially declared victory on Election Day. At the time, Harris' campaign called his declaration "Dewey-esque" and said the uncounted ballots would favor the San Francisco District Attorney.
According to California law, all vote counting must be complete by Tuesday and all counts must be submitted to the Secretary of State's Office by Dec. 3.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by e-mail at jessica@legalnewsline.com.