LOS ANGELES — Ten years ago, Steve Cooley stood in front of a crowd of supporters and declared victory in California’s race for attorney general.
By the next morning, he had already lost his lead.
Three weeks later, Los Angeles County’s conservative District Attorney conceded, and Kamala Harris became California’s Attorney General. The rest, as they say, is history.
“She slaughtered me, slaughtered me on provisional votes,” Cooley said, reflecting on the race from his home in Rolling Hills Estates. “She won in all 58 counties.”
Californians could be in for another long November in 2020. It’s the first time the state will send a vote-by-mail ballot to all 21 million registered voters. Those voters have up until election day to mail them back, which means close races may take weeks to sort out.
“If you just look at the statistics, it’s more likely that, throughout the nation, republicans will look like they’re doing better on election night, and then as more votes are being cast, particularly some vote-by-mail, some late vote-by-mail, things could shift,” said Jessica Levinson, elections expert and professor at Loyola Law School. “It’s called the ‘Red Mirage’ and the 'Blue shift.’”
Levinson said changing election margins and results are often a result of the process working carefully, as election officials check ballot signatures and provisional ballots.
Cooley will be watching the election results closely as his friend and protégé, Jackie Lacey, is in the fight of her career to win a third term as District Attorney. Progressive challenger George Gascón has racked up endorsements from California’s most powerful Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, Senator Kamala Harris, and Mayor Eric Garcetti.
“I would say this is probably the most important election for Los Angeles County District Attorney in history,” Cooley said.
Cooley explained that Gascón would be a “rogue” DA, citing Gascón's opposition to the death penalty. Gascón has pledged to work to resentence hundreds of inmates currently sitting on death row and would not seek the death penalty in new cases.
“So when you get someone like the Grim Sleeper, who killed 25 African-American women, the law is you pursue the death penalty," said Cooley. "That’s the law. He’s not going to do it."
Cooley met Lacey in the DA’s office in the 1980s, and when he got the top job, he appointed Lacey to become director of central operations. Some DA’s inside the office say Cooley groomed Lacey to take the top job when he retired.
“Let’s just say I saw the talent and I used her appropriately and she grew into it," Cooley said. "She proved herself."
Cooley has written a series of books in retirement documenting police killed in the line of duty — the first of which is titled Blue Lives Matter.
He’s not involved in Lacey’s campaign but serves as a surrogate, defending her record and her career.