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Kamala Devi Harris set to script history in US

November 27, 2010 01:06 IST

Three weeks after Election Day the see-saw battle between Democrat Kamala Devi Harris and Republican Steve Cooley for the post of Attorney General of California came to an end on November 24 when Cooley conceded the race in perhaps one of the closest statewide elections in the history of this state.

The Los Angeles Times reported that with the number of uncounted ballots dwindling and Harris' lead exceeding 50,000 votes, Cooley, the Los Angeles County district attorney had telephoned Harris, the San Francisco district attorney to congratulate her and concede victory.

Although Cooley had conceded victory, Harris held off claiming victory till next week when her campaign has scheduled a press conference and victory celebration sending off missives to her supporters simply stating 'Please Join Kamala Harris for a Special Announcement on November 30 at the Delancy Street Foundation in San Francisco.'

When Harris, 45, declares victory next week, she becomes the first African American and female as well as the first Indian American to hold this position in the history of California as well as the nation respectively.

She will succeed Attorney General Jerry Brown, the erstwhile Oakland Mayor and California Governor, who made another run for Governor this year and won again and with Harris' victory gives the Democrats a clean sweep in capturing all of the statewide elected offices in California.

In December 2003, the Oakland-born Harris became the first woman to be elected District Attorney in San Francisco's history, and the first African American woman in California and the first Indian American in the nation to hold this office.

A product of public schools, Harris is an alumnus of Howard University, America's oldest historically black university, and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and from then on has spent her entire professional life in the trenches as a courtroom prosecutor.

A recipient of numerous awards, she was recognized as a 'Woman of Power' by the National Urban League and received the Thurgood Marshall Award from the National Black Prosecutors Association. Last year, she was also featured by the New York Times on a list of 17 women most likely to become the first lady President.

Harris has been featured on the Oprah Show and in Newsweek as one of 'America's 20 Most Powerful Women,' and during the Democratic National Convention was part of the powerful policymaking Platform Committee, and since serves on several of the DNC's influential committees.

After the polls closed on November 2, according to figures released by the Secretary of State's Office, Hariss has 4,203, 346 votes to Cooley's 4,172,616 votes, or 46 percent to 45.6

percent respectively.

But, with over two million ballots remaining to be counted statewide --absentee/vote-by-mail and provisional ballots--, each side every few days claimed victory.

On the night of Election Day on November 2, Cooley, jumped out to an early lead and declared victory and scheduled a press conference the next day. But when the votes continued to come in from several other counties besides from the heavily Republican counties, Cooley's campaign announced the press conference was cancelled until a more definitive result was forthcoming.

But the next morning, Harris' campaign announced that they were ahead, but this lead was short-lived and the voter count see-sawing back and forth became the narrative for the days that followed.

On November 17, Harris' campaign announced that she led Cooley by more than 30,000 votes statewide and while acknowledging that number would almost certainly change in the coming days as different counties report their tallies, Harris' campaign spokesman Ace Smith announced, "We remain confident that once all the votes are counted, Kamala Harris will be the next Attorney General of California."

But even if Harris was holding off on declaring victory last week after Cooley conceded, her most ardent supporters and fund-raisers in the Indian American and Asian American community simply couldn't contain their elation and told rediff.com that they were ecstatic that Harris had ultimately prevailed as they were confident she would.

Kathy Kulkarni, president of the Indian American Leadership Initiative, which had strongly endorsed Harris, said, "IALI is please to celebrate Kamala's victory. She is an outstanding candidate who will now do us proud as the highest ranking Indian American Democrat in elected office."

"She has also received the most votes of any Indian American candidate in the history of this nation," Kulkarni noted, and added, "As we celebrate her victory as the California Attorney General, she is the first woman to hold this office, the first person of color to hold this office."

Kulkarni also rattling off even more firsts, said Harris "now holds the highest office of any Indian American Democrat and is the first Indian American Democrat to hold statewide office."

"Kamala's victory is a tribute to her leadership and perseverance and she is an inspiration for our entire community," she said.

Aziz Haniffa in Washington, DC