There is one significant outlier in the poll, however:
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, a Republican, holds a narrow lead over Democratic opponent Kamala Harris [@kamalaharris] in the contentious race for California attorney general, aided greatly by voter support on his usually Democratic home turf…
The survey showed that Harris, the San Francisco district attorney, has thus far failed to captivate the Democratic stronghold of Los Angeles County, home to one out of every four registered voters in California and a near must-win for any Democrat running statewide.
Cooley, a veteran prosecutor seen largely as a moderate Republican, has won three D.A. elections in Los Angeles County, where Democrats outnumber Republicans almost two to one.
In the survey, Cooley held a 42 percent-33 percent advantage over Harris among likely voters in the county. Statewide, he had a 40 percent-35 percent edge among likely voters, according to the survey.
The biggest remaining wild card in the race is a large pool of undecided voters; 17 percent of the likely voters still have not made up their minds, the poll found — a common occurrence in the “down ballot” races. In the governor’s race, by comparison, only 4 percent of likely voters were undecided, according to the poll.
What makes this alarming is not so much the fact that Cooley is a Republican as it is the company he keeps:
Suddenly, California’s race for attorney general has become nationalized – and the out-of-state players who have stepped into the campaign say a great deal about the candidates and the power of the office.
Consider this: A political organization based in Virginia, headed by influential Republicans and funded by tobacco, insurance and gambling interests is airing an ad to elect Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, the Republican running against San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris.
The buy is large — more than $1 million… It may be the first major foray by a national organization into a race for California attorney general. The point it makes is clear: The person who holds the job of California attorney general matters, not just to Californians…
By Election Day, the Republican State Leadership Committee will have spent roughly $20 million on races for statewide offices, including legislatures and attorneys general across the country.
The group’s chairman is Ed Gillespie, who was counselor to President George W. Bush. Gillespie and Bush’s chief political strategist, Karl Rove, helped create American Crossroads, which is spending millions to help Republicans take control of the House and Senate. American Crossroads has given $600,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee.
Take a look at some corporate donors, culled from the organization’s public filings and from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, and you’ll see the significance of the office of attorney general:
• Blue Cross/Blue Shield, $918,000. Cooley has given ambiguous answers about whether he would join state lawsuits over federal health care legislation. Harris embraces the legislation.
• Reynolds Tobacco and Altria, the world’s largest cigarette maker, have given a combined $1.15 million. The attorney general enforces terms of the $200 billion-plus settlement of the states’ litigation against the tobacco industry.
It’s obvious that these big corporate interests are willing to spend this kind of money on Cooley because they know he’ll do their bidding if he gets into office.
This development has gone almost entirely under the radar in the state, which means that potentially millions of Los Angeles County Democrats will vote for Steve Cooley, not knowing that he is in the pocket of these big corporate interest.
Oh, and as to whether Cooley is a “moderate,” as the Times suggested, in 2002 he made a big first impression on gay people and their many influential friends in the county when he refused to pursue a series of vicious random gay bashings in West Hollywood as hate crimes. Members of the West Hollywood City Council began a recall drive that unfortunately did not succeed.
So we want a guy who’s using funds from two W presidency rejects to buy the AG spot? As Californians, we’re smarter than that and we deserve better. The most important thing we can do is to vote AGAINST Steve Cooley on Nov 2. Check out http://www.notcooley.com for more ways to get involved in electing the AG California needs right now.