Didn't see this posted yet. Good news out of California. Though the race has yet to be called, Kamala Harris (D) has apparently squeaked out a victory over Steve Cooley (R) for California's Attorney General.
This contest has been closely watched, amongst others, by medical cannabis and gay rights advocates.
Only 15,000 votes now separate Harris and Cooley but Harris has declared victory.
There are still some absentee and provisional ballots to be counted - it's looking eerily like Florida 2000: 45.9% to 45.7%. Harris thinks she'll hang on after Cooley clumsily claimed victory prematurely last night.
There were strong indications that Cooley, LA's District Attorney, would have rolled back medical cannabis advancements over the years if elected. He is a big supporter of Prop 8 (marriage inequality) as well. After last night's Prop 19 defeat and the passage of Prop 8 in '08, this one's a sweet victory - for Dems, progressives and gay rights and cannabis advocates alike.
Update: From sfappeal, Kamala camp: LA County to "bolster" Harris numbers:
Harris this afternoon had so far received 3,292,836 votes and Cooley 3,277,998 votes.
Elections officials must still tally provisional and absentee ballots, so the results are not final.
However, Harris' campaign asserted that "uncounted ballots will only bolster" Harris' lead.
The campaign said they had been informed of nearly 400,000 uncounted ballots in Los Angeles County alone. Harris has so far carried that county with 53.7 percent of the vote.
"It is not unusual for several hundred thousand ballots to remain uncounted the day after an election in California," said Nicole Winger, a spokeswoman for the Secretary of State.
Counties have 28 days following the election to complete their counts.
Update2: And from the Chron:
"We are very optimistic," said Harris campaign spokesman Brian Brokaw. "We always believed that any results on election night that showed us within an incredibly close margin would lead us to victory, because of all of the outstanding ballots that have yet to be counted. We believe they will be very reflective of the Election Day vote."
Yet, the final outcome may not be known for weeks the paper reports:
but with tens of thousands of absentee and provisional ballots still uncounted, the final result will likely remain unknown for weeks.
