Kamala Harris - For California Attorney General 2010

Contenders line up for Attorney General race

By Peter Hecht, Sacramento Bee
March 16, 2009

Attorney General Jerry Brown, ever coy about his political future, is both raising money for a re-election bid as California's top law enforcement officer and actively courting a run for governor in 2010.

But Brown's fellow Democrats aren't waiting. Six Democrats, including San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo and four present or former state lawmakers, have filed campaign papers to run for Brown's seat.

Two other Democrats, Facebook executive Chris Kelly and Bobby Shriver, brother of California first lady Maria Shriver and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, are flirting with joining the attorney general field.

Attorney general is seen as the second most powerful and politically attractive office after the governorship. Its occupant has the ability to prosecute criminals, sue large corporations and weigh in legally on far-reaching social issues such as gay marriage.

"I've said from the very beginning, I am running for what I believe will be a vacant and open attorney general seat," said Harris, who is seen as a rising star among Democratic insiders but is still little known statewide. "I don't believe (Brown) will be up for re-election in 2010."

Two Republicans, 2006 attorney general candidate Chuck Poochigian and state Sen. Tom Harmon of Huntington Beach, also are eyeing the race.

But Brown is keeping his options open.

"I am actively engaged in doing my job as attorney general," Brown said in a statement through his press office. "I am currently raising money for re-election. I've made no decision about running for governor, but I am giving it serious consideration."

Harris, who in 2003 became the first African American district attorney elected in state history, was a California campaign co-chair for Barack Obama. When former President Bill Clinton gave a campaign speech for his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, at last year's state Democratic convention, Harris delivered the address on behalf of Obama.

She also got a boost when journalist Gwen Ifill, author of "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama" recently touted her credentials on the "Late Show with David Letterman."

"There is a great district attorney in San Francisco whose name is Kamala Harris," Ifill said, adding: "They call her the female Barack Obama."

Shriver, a Santa Monica City Councilman and Yale Law School graduate, could become an instant contender if he decides to enter the field.

"He is obviously a significant player," said Democratic political consultant Bill Carrick. "He has tremendous potential to raise money. He has the (Kennedy family) background and work with the Special Olympics and AIDS in Africa. He has quite a story to tell."

Harris said she is running to serve "Californians from distressed homeowners to people whose neighborhoods have been under siege from crime." Harris, a graduate of the University of California Hastings College of the Law, champions a record of increasing criminal convictions in San Francisco.

But Harris trails in fundraising to lesser-known state lawmakers, who have stockpiled cash in campaign accounts in anticipation of running for statewide office.

While Harris ended December with $117,000 in cash in her attorney general campaign account, Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, had more than $700,000 in two accounts that he may use for an attorney general bid.

Lieu, a former U.S. Air Force judge advocate general with a law degree from Georgetown, said he wants to be an attorney general in the mold of Brown, who sued the Bush administration over clean air standards and went after alleged predatory lenders.

"I would absolutely be an activist attorney general," Lieu said. "I would have an entire mortgage task force. I would be very aggressive on environmental policies."

Another contender is Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico, D-Newark. Torrico has stored $650,000 in two legislative accounts.

"I've decided. I'm in," Torrico said, adding that he is "transferring all of my funds" into a run for attorney general.

Source: Sacbee.com

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