Brief biographies of California’s attorney general candidates
Among a crowded field of candidates running for attorney general this year, nine have amassed more than $100,000 to fund a credible campaign. They are:
STEVE COOLEY
Party: Republican
Occupation: Los Angeles County district attorney
Age: 63
City of residence: Rancho Palos Verdes
Personal: wife, Jana Cooley; two adult children; one granddaughter
Education: bachelor’s degree in social science and history from Cal State Los Angeles. Law school: USC Law Center
Career highlights: Joined the L.A. County district attorney’s office in 1973 as a law clerk; rose through the office as a prosecutor; elected district attorney in 2000; reelected 2004 and 2008.
Platform: Emphasizes prosecutions of public officials for corruption and other misconduct; advocates a focus on prosecuting criminals who reenter the country after deportation; would target Medi-Cal fraud.
Campaign website: https://www.stevecooley.com
ROCKY DELGADILLO
Party: Democratic
Occupation: attorney at Goodwin Proctor LLP
Age: 49
City of residence: Los Angeles
Personal: wife, Michelle Delgadillo; two sons, 9 and 6.
Education: bachelor’s degree in psychology and social relations from Harvard University. Law school: Columbia Law School
Career highlights: teacher/coach at Los Angeles Unified School District, 1982-83; senior attorney at O’Melveny & Myers; assistant deputy mayor of Los Angeles, 1993-97; deputy mayor of economic development 1997-2001; elected city attorney of Los Angeles in 2001, reelected 2005.
Platform: Touts his record as L.A. city attorney, saying he pursued gang injunctions to combat gang crimes; filed lawsuits against health insurance companies that canceled policies for customers after they became sick; pursued environmental polluters.
Campaign website: https://www.4rocky.com
JOHN EASTMAN
Party: Republican
Occupation: constitutional law attorney
Age: 50
City of residence: Long Beach
Personal: wife, Elizabeth Eastman; two children, 17 and 15.
Education: bachelor’s degree in politics and economics from the University of Dallas; doctorate in government from Claremont Graduate University. Law school: University of Chicago Law School
Career highlights: Joined the faculty at Chapman University School of Law in 1999; founded the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public-interest law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute, in 1999; clerked with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, 2006-07; dean of the school from 2007 until February 2010.
Platform: Would defend Proposition 8, the initiative that banned gay marriage; would press the federal government to pay for California’s costs to house illegal immigrants in prison; would join lawsuits against the federal government to block healthcare reform requirements signed into law by President Obama earlier this year.
Campaign website: https://www.eastmanforag.com
TOM HARMAN
Party: Republican
Occupation: state senator
Age: 68
City of residence: Huntington Beach
Personal: wife, Dianne Harman; two adult children; two grandchildren.
Education: bachelor of science in business administration from Kansas State University. Law school: Loyola Law School
Career highlights: Served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, 4th Infantry Division, 1963-65; general practice attorney in the law firm of Lucas & Deukmejian before setting up his own law practice; appointed to Huntington Beach City Council in 1995, elected 1996; elected to state Assembly in 2000, reelected 2002 and 2004; elected to state Senate in 2006, reelected 2008.
Platform: Would conduct an audit of the attorney general’s office to prioritize programs; would join lawsuits against the federal government to block healthcare reform requirements signed into law by President Obama earlier this year; supports a moratorium on regulations aimed at curbing greenhouse gases that were signed into law in 2006.
Campaign website: https://www.harman4ag.com
KAMALA HARRIS
Party: Democratic
Occupation: San Francisco district attorney
Age: 45
City of residence: San Francisco
Personal: single
Education: bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Howard University. Law school: UC Hastings College of the Law.
Career highlights: prosecutor in Alameda County district attorney’s office, 1990-98; managing attorney in the career criminal unit of the San Francisco district attorney’s office, 1998-2000; chief of the community and neighborhood division in the San Francisco city attorney’s office, 2000-03; elected San Francisco district attorney in 2003, reelected 2007.
Platform: Advocates being “smart on crime” by punishing serious offenders and pursuing programs that can help deter crime (such as targeting truancy) and reduce recidivism (such as providing job skills to low-level offenders); emphasizes prosecution of identity theft and enforcement of online privacy laws; personally opposes the death penalty but would uphold the law.
Campaign website: https://www.kamalaharris.org
CHRIS KELLY
Party: Democratic
Occupation: former Facebook Inc. executive
Age: 39
City of residence: Palo Alto
Personal: wife, Jennifer Carrico; 19-month-old son.
Education: bachelor’s degree in government and philosophy from Georgetown University; master’s in political theory from Yale. Law school: Harvard Law School
Career highlights: policy advisor to the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign and the Clinton White House Domestic Policy Council until 1993; special assistant in the U.S. Department of Education, 1993-94; clerk for a U.S. district court judge in San Diego, 1997-98; worked for a private law firm, Baker & McKenzie, 2001-04; joined Facebook Inc. in 2005, worked as chief privacy officer and legal counsel until taking a leave of absence in August and formally leaving the company earlier this year.
Platform: Promotes innovation in combating crime, using technology to jam cellphone calls by prison inmates and coordinating with technology companies and police to track criminals online; emphasizes protecting consumers against mortgage fraud, identity theft and other crime; would seek to strengthen prison rehabilitation programs to reduce recidivism.
Campaign website: https://www.kelly2010.com
TED LIEU
Party: Democratic
Occupation: State assemblyman
Age: 41
City of residence: Torrance
Personal: wife, Betty Chim; two sons, 7 and 4
Education: bachelor’s in computer science and political science from Stanford University. Law school: Georgetown University Law Center
Career highlights: clerked on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, 1994-95; served in the Air Force as a military prosecutor, 1995-99; practiced civil law at Munger, Tolles & Olson, and then at UBS PaineWebber; elected to Torrance City Council in 2002; elected to state Assembly in 2005, reelected 2006 and 2008; serves as a lieutenant-colonel and military prosecutor in the Air Force reserves.
Platform: Touts his record on consumer protection, saying he stood up to the banking industry by trying to crack down on mortgage fraud and abuse; would oppose cuts to public safety in the state; emphasizes environmental protection and opposes any moratorium on a host of regulations he helped co-write to reduce greenhouse gases.
Campaign website: https://www.tedlieu.com
PEDRO NAVA
Party: Democratic
Occupation: State assemblyman
Age: 62
City of residence: Santa Barbara
Personal: wife, Susan Jordan; one adult son.
Education: bachelor’s degree in sociology from UC San Bernardino. Law school: University of Davis’ Martin Luther King Jr. School of Law.
Career highlights: prosecutor in Fresno County district attorney’s office, 1981-85; prosecutor in Santa Barbara County district attorney’s office, 1985-87; worked in private practice primarily defending nurses in medical malpractice lawsuits, 1987-2004; served on California Coastal Commission, 1997-2004; elected to state Assembly 2004, reelected 2006 and 2008.
Platform: Opposes offshore oil drilling and emphasizes prosecutions of environmental polluters; advocates tougher consumer protection against nursing home abuse and foreclosure scams; promises not to seek higher office.
Campaign website: https://www.pedronava.com
ALBERT TORRICO
Party: Democratic
Occupation: State assemblyman (D- Newark)
Age: 41
City of residence: Newark
Personal: wife, Raquel Andrade; two children, 9 and 5
Education: bachelor of science degree in political science from Santa Clara University. Law school: UC Hastings College of the Law
Career highlights: worked as an attorney on workers’ rights and labor union cases as well as criminal defense; elected to Newark City Council in 2001; elected to state Assembly in 2004, reelected 2006 and 2008; Assembly majority leader 2008-10.
Platform: Faults the state for spending more on prisons than higher education and says improving the quality of schools is the most effective way to reduce recidivism and increase public safety; would seek to require prison inmates to enroll in rehabilitation and training programs; would work to end funding disparities that result in some poorer school districts receiving less money per student than wealthier districts nearby.
Campaign website: https://www.albertotorrico.com