The 2010 California Attorney General election was held on November 2, 2010, to choose the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

of California. The primary election was held on June 8, 2010. Incumbent

Jerry Brown, a Democrat, was elected

Governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...

. The two major candidates were district attorneys from

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

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. On November 30, Harris declared victory. Harris was the state's first female attorney general, first African American attorney general (father from Jamaica), and first

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

(mother from India) state attorney general when her term began in January 2011.

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

, 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 as well as a focus of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party on promoting her candidacy in Los Angeles County towards the final weeks of the campaign, which promised to make the race competitive. On election night, the headliners on the Republican ticket, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina were soundly defeated by Jerry Brown and

Barbara Boxer Barbara Sue Boxer (née Levy; born November 11, 1940) is an American politician and lobbyist who served in the United States Senate, representing California from 1993 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the U.S. ...

, with Democrats having a healthy margin to declare victory in every other statewide contest. Abel Maldonado, who was defeated for his reelection bid as Lieutenant Governor, stated that errors of the Whitman and Fiorina campaigns dragged Republican candidates on the bottom of the ticket down along with the fading fortunes of Whitman and Fiorina towards the end of the race. 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

, 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 with less than 38,000 votes (45.9% versus 45.7%) separating both candidates 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. The closest statewide race of the 2010 cycle in California, Cooley was the top vote-getter of the 2010 Republican ticket, 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 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Democratic primary

Candidates

Rocky Delgadillo Rockard John Delgadillo (born July 15, 1960), known as Rocky Delgadillo, is an American lawyer and politician. He is the former City Attorney of Los Angeles (2001–09). Career *Teacher/Coach, Los Angeles Unified School District, Franklin *Att ...

, attorney and former Los Angeles City Attorney who ran in the Democratic primary in

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* Kamala Harris, District Attorney of San Francisco * Chris Kelly, attorney and former chief privacy officer of Facebook * Ted Lieu, former military prosecutor and assemblymember from the 53rd district * Pedro Nava, attorney and assemblymember from the 35th district * Mike Schmier, employee rights attorney *

Alberto Torrico Alberto Torrico was elected to the California State Assembly in 2004. He served for six years, including two years as Majority Leader. During his three terms in Sacramento, Alberto served as Chair of the Public Employee Retirement and Social S ...

, assemblymember from the 20th district, former Majority Leader of the State Assembly, and workers' rights attorney

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

* Steve Cooley,

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

John C. Eastman John Charles Eastman (born 1960) is an American lawyer who is the founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm affiliated with the conservative think tank, conservative think tank Claremont Instit ...

, constitutional law attorney and former dean of

Chapman University School of Law Chapman University's Dale E. Fowler School of Law, commonly referred to as Chapman University School of Law or Chapman Law School, is a private, non-profit law school located in Orange, California. The school offers the Juris Doctor degree (JD), ...

* Tom Harman, attorney and

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

representing the 35th district

Results

Minor parties

American Independent Party

Results

Green Party

* Peter Allen, attorney, former prosecutor, administrative law judge, and consumer advocate

Results

Libertarian Party

* Timothy Hannan, attorney, mediator and arbitrator

Results

Peace and Freedom Party

* Robert Evans, attorney, activist, former Recording Secretary of the Peace and Freedom Party

Results

General election

Polling

Results

References

External links

Peter AllenSteve CooleyRocky DelgadilloJohn EastmanRobert EvansTimothy HannanTom HarmanKamala HarrisChris KellyTed LieuPedro NavaMike SchmierDiane TemplinAlberto Torrico
{{Kamala Harris Attorney General election, 2010

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California Kamala Harris