2010 California Attorney General election

none February 2026 September 2023 2010 California Attorney General election California presidential no 2006 California Attorney General election 2006 2014 California Attorney General election 2014 November 2, 2010 File:Kamala Harris Official Attorney General Photo (cropped 2).jpg 150x150px Kamala Harris Democratic Party (United States) 4,442,781 46.05% File:Steve Cooley cropped flipped.jpg Steve Cooley Republican Party (United States) 4,368,624 45.28% 300px County results 300px Congressional district results 1 Harris: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% Cooley: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% Attorney General Jerry Brown Democratic Party (United States) Kamala Harris Democratic Party (United States) Attorney The 2010 California Attorney General election was held on November 2, 2010, to choose the Attorney General of California. The primary election was held on June 8, 2010. Incumbent Attorney General Jerry Brown, a Democrat, had declined to run and instead ran successfully for governor of California. The two major candidates were district attorneys from Los Angeles County and San Francisco, Republican Steve Cooley and Democrat Kamala Harris, respectively. On November 24, 2010, Cooley conceded to Harris, giving the Democrats a sweep of statewide executive offices.http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/11/steve-cooley-kamala-harris-attorney-general.html Kamala Harris wins attorney general's race as Steve Cooley concedes Los Angeles Times November 24, 2010 November 24, 2010 November 17, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161117161047/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/11/steve-cooley-kamala-harris-attorney-general.html/ live On November 30, Harris declared victory. SF Chronicle December 1, 2010 Kamala Harris sets course as new attorney general 2010-12-01 https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Kamala-Harris-sets-course-as-new-attorney-general-2455255.php Marisa Lagos Harris was the state's first female attorney general, and first Asian American (mother from India) state attorney general when her term began in January 2011. Harris would later be elected as a U.S. senator in 2016 and then to the vice presidency in 2020. She would go on to become the Democratic Party's presidential nominee for the 2024 election, which she would lose to former president Donald Trump.https://www.rollcall.com/podcasts/political-theater/its-just-history-kamala-harris-as-the-vp-nominee/ 'It's just history': Kamala Harris as the VP nominee Dick Jason FiscalNote August 12, 2020 CQ Roll Call October 3, 2020 Campaign For much of the election cycle following the primary election, political analysts theorized early on that the strength of Cooley's name after being twice elected District Attorney in Democratic-Stronghold Los Angeles County. Being viewed as a rising star in the California Republican Party, along with the strength of Meg Whitman's well-funded campaign anchoring the California Republican ticket in 2010 made Steve Cooley the initial favorite by a slight margin to win the election. Kamala Harris coalesced Democratic support with her opposition to Proposition 8, which Cooley promised to defend in court, opposing the unpopular Proposition 23 and any proposal for an SB 1070-style law in California. Harris benefitted from an endorsement and joint appearance with President Barack Obama at a rally at the University of Southern California before election day. She also focused on promoting her candidacy in Los Angeles County towards the final weeks of the campaign, which promised to make the race competitive. The election's only debate was held between the two major candidates on October 10, 2010, in a mock courtroom at the UC Davis School of Law. In a moment that was later dubbed by The New York Times in 2024 as "the 47 Seconds That Saved Kamala Harris's Political Career", Cooley was asked whether he planned to "double-dip" by taking the pension from his position as district attorney in addition to his $150,000 salary as California attorney general. Cooley answered that he would, saying, "I definitely earned whatever pension rights I have, and I will certainly rely upon that to supplement the very low, incredibly low salary that's paid to the attorney general."Goldmacher Shane 2024-08-18 The 47 Seconds That Saved Kamala Harris's Political Career https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/18/us/politics/kamala-harris-2010-debate.html 2024-08-19 The New York Times en-US 0362-4331 The remarks were widely considered to be tone-deaf and detrimental to Cooley's campaign, as the average annual household income in California was approximately $54,280 at the time; Cooley himself later remarked he had made a mistake by answering honestly. The Harris campaign quickly seized on the remarks with an ad depicting the question and answer, followed by text that read, "$150,000 a year isn't enough?" With the campaign running low on funds, the ads were run exclusively in Los Angeles, which was considered a stronghold for Cooley. The debate answer and subsequent ad campaign was later described as decisive both by journalists and members of both campaigns. On election night, the headliners on the Republican ticket, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, were soundly defeated by Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer, with Democrats having a healthy margin to declare victory in every other statewide contest. Abel Maldonado, the incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor who was defeated in his bid for election, stated that errors of the Whitman and Fiorina campaigns towards the end of the race dragged Republican candidates on the bottom of the ticket down.Breaking News http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16514744?nclick_check=1 2022-05-03 Mercury News The only bright spot statewide for the California Republican Party that night were early returns showing Cooley with a lead of up to eight points, in which he and many news organizations declared victory. However, the next morning, returns from Los Angeles County, which was believed to be a Cooley stronghold, came in strong for Kamala Harris, removing one of Cooley's key advantages and making the race too close to call. Cooley then canceled a victory press conference scheduled for that day. Los Angeles and San Francisco County reported their returns, which favored Harris, and less than 38,000 votes (45.9% versus 45.7%) NY Times http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/california California — Election Results 2010 2010-11-06 2010-11-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20101106074416/http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/california live separated the candidates statewide at the end of counting that day. On November 24, 2010, Cooley conceded the race when it was determined that he was going to be unable to overcome the 50,000-vote lead that Harris had built up and maintained during the past week, with a majority of the uncounted ballots coming from counties which Harris won.http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/11/steve-cooley-kamala-harris-attorney-general.html Los Angeles Times L.A. Now 2010-11-24 2016-11-17 https://web.archive.org/web/20161117161047/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/11/steve-cooley-kamala-harris-attorney-general.html/ live Having run the closest statewide race of the 2010 cycle in California, Cooley was the top vote-getter of the 2010 Republican ticket,http://blogs.kqed.org/capitalnotes/2010/11/22/gops-cooley-beats-gops-whitman/ GOP's Cooley Beats... GOP's Whitman Capital Notes - From KQED's John Myers 2010-11-24 https://web.archive.org/web/20101125134559/http://blogs.kqed.org/capitalnotes/2010/11/22/gops-cooley-beats-gops-whitman/ 2010-11-25 dead while Harris's victory gave the Democratic Party a clean sweep of all of California's statewide offices — a feat the party had last accomplished in 2002. Democratic primary Candidates Nominee Kamala Harris, District Attorney of San Francisco (2004–2011) Eliminated in primary Rocky Delgadillo, former Los Angeles City Attorney and candidate for this office in 2006 Chris Kelly, attorney and former Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Ted Lieu, state assemblymember from the 53rd district (2005–2010) Pedro Nava, attorney and state assemblymember from the 35th district (2004–2010) Mike Schmier, employee rights attorney Alberto Torrico, former Assembly Majority Leader (2008–2010) from the 20th district (2004–2010) Results Democratic primary results Kamala D. Harris California Democratic Party 762,995 33.6 Alberto Torrico California Democratic Party 354,792 15.6 Chris Kelly California Democratic Party 350,757 15.5 Ted W. Lieu California Democratic Party 237,618 10.5 Pedro Nava California Democratic Party 222,941 9.7 Rocky Delgadillo California Democratic Party 219,494 9.6 Mike Schmier California Democratic Party 127,291 5.5 2,275,888 100.0 Republican primary Candidates Nominee Steve Cooley, Los Angeles County District Attorney (2000–2012) Eliminated in primary John C. Eastman, former dean of Chapman University School of Law Tom Harman, state senator from the 35th district (2006–2012) Results Republican primary resultshttps://sosmt.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/2012_PRIMARY_STATEWIDE_CANVASS.PDF Archived copy 2019-02-24 2018-08-01 https://web.archive.org/web/20180801230806/https://sosmt.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/2012_PRIMARY_STATEWIDE_CANVASS.PDF live Steve Cooley California Republican Party 1,012,294 47.3 John Eastman California Republican Party 737,025 34.5 Tom Harman California Republican Party 391,618 18.2 2,140,937 100.0 Minor parties American Independent Party Results American Independent primary results Diane Beall Templin American Independent Party 39,103 100.0 39,103 100.0 Green Party Peter Allen, attorney, former prosecutor, administrative law judge, and consumer advocate Results Green primary results Peter Allen Green Party of California 20,845 100.0 20,845 100.0 Libertarian Party Timothy Hannan, attorney, mediator and arbitrator Results Libertarian primary results Timothy J. Hannan Libertarian Party of California 17,957 100.0 17,957 100.0 Peace and Freedom Party Robert Evans, attorney, activist, former Recording Secretary of the Peace and Freedom Party Results Peace and Freedom primary results Robert Evans Peace and Freedom Party 3,892 100.0 3,892 100.0 General election thumb|right|Harris speaking at a Democratic rally at USC in October 2010 Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error KamalaHarris (D) SteveCooley (R) Other UndecidedSuffolk UniversitySuffolk University October 21–24, 2010 600 |± 4.0% 35% 34% 5%Peter Allen (G) with 2%, Diane Templin (AI), Timothy Hannan (L), and Robert Evans (PF) each with 1% 26%Los Angeles Times/USCLos Angeles Times/USC October 13–20, 2010 922 |± 3.2% 35% 40% – –David Binder ResearchDavid Binder Research September 23–27, 2010 800 |± 3.5% 30% 27% 11% 32%Field PollField Poll September 14–21, 2010 599 |± 4.1% 31% 35% – 34%Field PollField Poll June 22 – July 5, 2010 357 |± 5.5% 34% 37% – 29% Results California Attorney General election, 2010https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2010-general/complete-sov.pdf Statement of Vote November 2, 2010, General Election 2010-12-13 2014-12-24 https://web.archive.org/web/20141224175027/http://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2010-general/complete-sov.pdf live Democratic Party (United States) Kamala Harris 4,442,781 46.05% -10.24% Republican Party (United States) Steve Cooley 4,368,624 45.28% +7.17% Green Party of the United States Peter Allen 258,879 2.68% +0.37% Libertarian Party (United States) Timothy J. Hannan 246,583 2.56% +0.46% American Independent Party Diane Beall Templin 169,993 1.76% N/A Peace and Freedom Party Robert J. Evans 160,416 1.66% +0.47% 9,647,276 100.00% N/A Democratic Party (United States) Notes References External links Peter Allen https://web.archive.org/web/20210213220159/https://www.peterallenforag.com/ February 13, 2021 Steve Cooley Rocky Delgadillo John Eastman Robert Evans Timothy Hannan Tom Harman Kamala Harris Chris Kelly Ted Lieu Pedro Nava Mike Schmier Diane Templin Alberto Torrico Attorney General election, 2010 2010 California Category:Kamala Harris