Harris' top priority is full audit for D.A.'s office, mending fences / Wholesale firings won't happen, she assures worried prosecutors

Kamala Devi Harris Elected as DA in San Francisco

According to this story from the San Francisco Examiner, 38 year old Kamala Devi Harris has become San Francisco's first woman and the first Indian/Jamaican-American woman to hold the DA post of the Northern California City. Harris, this past tuesday, defeated two-term incumbent DA Terrence Hallinan by garnering 56.3 percent of the vote. Harris outspent her opponent by a ratio over 2 to 1 (Harris Spent 621,000 while Hallinan spent 286,000), and by doing so exceeded the voluntary Ethics Commission amounts and gained negative publicity, but offset that by running a forceful campaign marked by important endorsements and the powerful backing of political and personal friend, outgoing mayor Willie Brown, which Hallinan attempted to use against her in a nasty campaign.

Harris, who as the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father brings a new ethnic mix to the office, also collected an impressive array of endorsements, including Sheriff Michael Hennessey, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Assembly member Mark Leno. Insiders at the D.A.’s office said Harris won favor with voters because they thought she could rebuild relations with police that were damaged when Hallinan indicted much of the command staff over their investigation of the street fight involving Alex Fagan Jr.

Congratulations from DESIBLOG go out to Kamala!

posted by sajit @ 1:45 PM