D.A. to run for state office
San Francisco Dist. Atty. Kamala D. Harris filed papers Wednesday to run for California attorney general in 2010 but said she would withdraw if incumbent Jerry Brown, a fellow Democrat, decides to run for reelection rather than for governor as widely expected.
“I’m a career prosecutor, and the work we’ve done in the San Francisco district attorney’s office I want to bring statewide,” Harris said.
She said she plans to propose “new ideas” for strengthening the state’s criminal justice system. They include an expanded version of a San Francisco program, Back on Track, that partners with businesses to provide job training and other help to those released from prison.
Harris is viewed as left-leaning, which could alienate centrist voters who may prefer a more conservative top law enforcement officer, said Tom Hogen-Esch, a political science professor at Cal State Northridge.
Harris was elected in 2003, becoming the first female district attorney in San Francisco and the first black woman in California to be chosen as district attorney. She was reelected in November 2007.
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