Kamala Harris hits the airwaves

California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who is expected to sweep to reelection next month, is launching two television ads Wednesday that highlight her tenure as the state’s top law enforcement officer and her efforts to combat school truancy.

“As attorney general, she aggressively prosecuted predators who victimize the vulnerable. Harris cracked down on sex trafficking of women and children into California, took on the transnational gangs, prosecuted sexual assaults and enforced laws requiring equal pay for equal work,” a voice says in one of the ads, over images of Harris walking in a courthouse and speaking with a law enforcement officer and others.

In a courtroom, Harris says, “I swore an oath to the people of California, and that means all the people.”

In the other ad, Harris is surrounded by schoolchildren as she touts her efforts to fight truancy, which she says makes children more likely to drop out of school and become a criminal or a victim.

Both ads, which were created by SCN Strategies, end with “Kamala Harris. A prosecutor with conviction.”

The ad is not airing statewide but in regions such as Southern California, where the Democrat, who is widely expected to run for higher office, is less well known than in her Bay Area home base.

Harris’ GOP rival Ron Gold is little known and has failed to raise the money required to mount a serious statewide campaign. A former prosecutor from Woodland Hills, he had less than $18,000 in the bank and $80,000 in debt, according to campaign reports filed with the state last week. In contrast, Harris had more than $3.6 million in the bank, money she can save for a future run for governor or U.S. Senate.

Harris leads Gold by 12 points in the most recent public polling, a narrower margin than other top Democrats in statewide races that are not considered competitive. In 2010, Harris won her post by less than 1% of the 10 million votes cast, defeating Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, a result that was not known until more than three weeks after election day.

seema.mehta@latimes.com
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