The race for California's chief law enforcement officer is among the state's most hotly contested in both the Democratic and Republican primaries.
The field includes four legislators, two district attorneys, a former city attorney, a constitutional law expert and a former Facebook legal counsel who has spent nearly $10 million of personal funds on his campaign.
The seat is considered a potential springboard to run for governor. Incumbent Jerry Brown currently is vying for the state's top office, for example, as did four of his five predecessors.
STEVE COOLEY
EXPERIENCE: Los Angeles County district attorney, 2000-present; deputy district attorney, 1974-2000; Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office law clerk, 1973; reserve police officer, Los Angeles Police Department, 1972-1977
AGE/RESIDENCE: 63/Los Angeles
CASH RAISED: $1.2 million
KEY SUPPORTERS: California Peace Officers' Association, former Gov. Pete Wilson, California Police Chiefs Association
OUTLOOK: Cooley has loaded up on institutional GOP support and is well known in vote-rich Southern California.
Q. Should the state spend more or less on prisons? Explain what should be increased or how cuts could be made.
A. Public safety is government's first priority. Those who are in prison earned their way into the system. More needs to be done to reduce an unacceptable rate of recidivism.
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JOHN EASTMAN
EXPERIENCE: Special assistant attorney general, South Dakota, for U.S. Supreme Court case, 2010; dean, Chapman University School of Law, 2007-2010; law professor, 1999-2006; law clerk, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
AGE/RESIDENCE: 50/Long Beach
CASH RAISED: $350,000
KEY SUPPORTERS: Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, California Republican Assembly and former U.S. Attorney General Ed Meese
OUTLOOK: Eastman is making a play for the conservative wing of the party and has no experience in elected office, which may help this year.
Q. Should the state spend more or less on prisons? Explain what should be increased or how cuts could be made.
A. The state should spend enough on prisons to house all the criminals who commit crime for the time they are sentenced, in compliance with laws like "three strikes." Put inmates to work to help with costs, and challenge overreaching federal court orders.
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TOM HARMAN
EXPERIENCE: State senator, 35th District, 2006-present; state assemblyman, 67th District, 2000-2006; councilman, Huntington Beach, 1995-2000; attorney at law, 1973-2000; attorney, Lucas & Deukmejian, 1968-1973
AGE/RESIDENCE: 68/Huntington Beach
CASH RAISED: $904,000
KEY SUPPORTERS: Associations of deputy district attorneys in Los Angeles and Orange counties, dozens of Republican state legislators, Gun Owners of California, Mike Reynolds, co-author of the "three strikes" law
OUTLOOK: Harman has the most political experience of the three Republicans.
Q. Should the state spend more or less on prisons? Explain what should be increased or how cuts could be made.
A. Prison programs are poorly underfunded in the state. From 2000-07, California was one of 12 states to have negative growth in imprisonment rates. Spending on prisons isn't sexy, but a necessity to ensure public safety remains the state's priority.
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DEMOCRATS
ROCKY DELGADILLO
EXPERIENCE: Attorney, 2009-present; Los Angeles city attorney, 2001-2009; deputy mayor for economic development for Los Angeles, 1998-2001
AGE/RESIDENCE: 49/Los Angeles
CASH RAISED: $1.7 million
KEY SUPPORTERS: Some labor organizations
OUTLOOK: Banking on name identification in Los Angeles and winning the Latino vote, Delgadillo has more than $1 million to spend in the final weeks.
Q. Should the state spend more or less on prisons? Explain what should be increased or how cuts could be made.
A. The first step to spending less money is to be vigilant in identifying and ending waste in the prison system. As to other sources of revenue, I would as attorney general do what I did as Los Angeles city attorney and bring civil actions.
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KAMALA D. HARRIS
EXPERIENCE: San Francisco district attorney, 2003-present; chief, Community and Neighborhood Division, San Francisco City Attorney's Office, 2000-2003; San Francisco deputy D.A., 1998-2000; Alameda County deputy D.A., 1990-1998
AGE/RESIDENCE: 45/San Francisco
CASH RAISED: $3.2 million
KEY SUPPORTERS: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, California Nurses Association
OUTLOOK: Highest profile candidate in the Democratic field, but faces attacks on San Francisco drug lab failures.
Q. Should the state spend more or less on prisons? Explain what should be increased or how cuts could be made.
A. The state is wasting precious public resources on a failing prison system. Our re-offense rate of 70 percent is the highest in the U.S. We must invest in early-intervention initiatives to make room in prisons for violent criminals who deserve to be there.
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CHRIS KELLY
EXPERIENCE: Chief legal counsel, Facebook, 2005-2010; counsel, Baker & McKenzie; counsel, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; policy adviser, Department of Education, Clinton administration; policy adviser, Domestic Policy Council for President Bill Clinton
AGE/RESIDENCE: 39/Palo Alto
CASH RAISED: $10 million, $9.6 million of it from Kelly's personal funds
KEY SUPPORTERS: Scant institutional support; contributors mostly from Bay Area
OUTLOOK: Kelly is virtually unknown but has millions to try to change that over the last weeks of the campaign.
Q. Should the state spend more or less on prisons? Explain what should be increased or how cuts could be made.
A. California prisons must figure out how to spend current dollars more effectively to keep California safe. We spend over $40 per prisoner per day on health care - most other states spend less than $15. I'll use innovation and a proven track record.
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TED W. LIEU
EXPERIENCE: Member, California Assembly, 2005-present; member, Torrance City Council, 2000-2005; attorney, corporate practice, 1999-2005; judge advocate general, U.S. military, 1995-1999
AGE/RESIDENCE: 41/Torrance
CASH RAISED: $1.8 million
KEY SUPPORTERS: Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, California Peace Officers' Association, California Police Chiefs' Association
OUTLOOK: Lieu had more than $1 million in March to get his message out.
Q. Should the state spend more or less on prisons? Explain what should be increased or how cuts could be made.
A. To stop the corrections budget from squeezing the general fund we must get serious about reducing recidivism. The state should increase funding for staffing and infrastructure in order to implement and expand rehabilitation programs so any inmate or parolee who is willing can participate.
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PEDRO NAVA
EXPERIENCE: Member, California Assembly, 2004-present; California Emergency Council, 2007-present; Ocean Protection Council, 2005-present; California Coastal Commission, 1997-2004; deputy district attorney, Santa Barbara, '85-87; deputy district attorney, Fresno
AGE/RESIDENCE: 62/Santa Barbara
CASH RAISED: $459,000
KEY SUPPORTERS: Sierra Club of California
OUTLOOK: A favorite of environmentalists, but his fundraising lags.
Q. Should the state spend more or less on prisons? Explain what should be increased or how cuts could be made.
A. In recent years, recidivism prevention and rehabilitation programs have been decimated. We must maintain our commitment to funding prisons to ensure that the safety of both those within and outside our prisons remain a top priority.
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ALBERTO TORRICO
EXPERIENCE: California assemblyman, 20th District, 2004-present; Newark City Council member, 2001-04; private attorney, 2001-04; workers' rights attorney, 2001-04; Van Bourg, Weinberg, Roger and Rosenfeld, 1995-2001
AGE/RESIDENCE: 41/Newark
CASH RAISED: $2.1 million
KEY SUPPORTERS: Peace Officers Research Association of California, California Professional Firefighters
OUTLOOK: Had $1 million in the bank in March and touts slightly broader union support than Democratic competitors.
Q. Should the state spend more or less on prisons? Explain what should be increased or how cuts could be made.
A. Less. For the first time our state spent more money on prisons than colleges. We need reform to make inmates rehabilitate themselves to reduce the 70 percent recidivism rate and recognize that education is the key to public safety.
OTHER CANDIDATES
Diane Beall Templin, American Independent
Mike Schmier, Democratic
Robert J. Evans, Peace and Freedom
Peter Allen, Green
Timothy J. Hannan, Libertarian
