Kamala Harris Declares Victory

UPDATE: The official outcome of the race may not be declared for weeks, however, as Kamala Harris is 9,000 votes ahead as of Thursday morning, but provisional and absentee ballots are still being counted, KPCC reports.

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UPDATE: Kamala Harris's campaign has declared victory after a tight race between her and Republican Steve Cooley to become California's next attorney general. According to a press release from campaign aide Ace Smith, "uncounted ballots will only bolster Kamala Harris's lead ... the provisional ballots cast on Tuesday will reflect Harris's victory."
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With 100% of precincts at least partially reporting, San Francisco district attorney Kamala Harris still holds a narrow lead over Steve Cooley in California's attorney general race.

Harris spokeswoman Deborah Mesloh tells The Advocate that she expects the secretary of state to certify the election soon. "I'm sure there will be a legal challenge, but we are very optimistic [of victory]," Mesloh says. Cooley declared victory Tuesday night during a Los Angeles newscast.

Harris currently leads Cooley by 14,838 votes statewide -- less than half a percent. In Los Angeles County, where residents three times elected Cooley D.A., Harris beat him by a whopping 258,000 votes.

If elected, Harris has vowed to let Proposition 8 die in a federal appeals court. Cooley has said he would support California's initiative banning same-sex marriage. Oral arguments in the case begin December 6 -- the current governor and attorney general of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger and incoming governor Jerry Brown, are refusing to defend the antigay ballot initiative. It can only bolster the case of attorney Ted Olson, leading the case against Prop. 8, that the state's incoming executives also do not support the proposition.

In the days leading up to the election, a political action group cofounded by Karl Rove pumped $1.1 million into Cooley's campaign.

Harris, if elected, would be the first female attorney general in California. A win for Harris would also mean a Democratic sweep in California, with the state electing Democrats as governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, controller, insurance commissioner, U.S. senator, and, obviously, attorney general.