Kamala Harris Officially Declares Victory

San Francisco district attorney Kamala Harris declared victory nearly a month after the California election pitted her against Los Angeles district attorney Steve Cooley for the position of state attorney general.

As of Tuesday, Harris led Proposition 8 supporter Cooley by 73,102 votes. She made her announcement at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, according to L,A, Weekly.

Harris will become California's first female attorney general and first attorney general of color (she's of Jamaican-American and Indian-American origin). Harris has steadfastly promised not to defend Prop. 8, the voter-approved initiative that banned same-sex marriage in California, in the federal appeals case that begins December 6. Cooley promised to do the opposite and defend Prop. 8.

Cooley had declared victory on the evening of November 2, but a hand count of provisional and absentee ballots shifted the lead in the race, which went back and forth until Tuesday, which was the deadline for counties to report the final counts to the secretary of state.