Sacramento, CA: Republican candidate Steve Cooley leads Democrat Kamala Harris by some 9,500 votes in the state’s yet-to-be decided race for state Attorney General, the East Bay Express website reported Wednesday afternoon.
Cooley had significantly widened his lead over Harris earlier this week. But Harris recently gained some 35,000 votes after state officials counted late absentee and provisional ballots from Alameda County.
The paper reports that the race could go on for “two more weeks” as officials continue to tabulate tens of thousands of late absentee and provisional ballots.
The contest for California Attorney General has significant implications for the distribution of medical cannabis in California, as Cooley has previously pledged to prosecute dispensaries that engage in over-the-counter cash sales of marijuana to authorized patients. In October, while serving as Los Angeles District Attorney, Cooley declared that state law bars sales of medical marijuana, and opined: “The vast, vast, vast majority, about 100%, of dispensaries in Los Angeles County and the city are operating illegally, they are dealing marijuana illegally. … The time is right to deal with this problem.”
State guidelines, issued under former Attorney General (now Governor-elect) Jerry Brown in 2008, authorize the distribution and non-profit sales of medical cannabis in California by qualified “collectives and cooperatives,” but warn that “storefront” business that engage in the for-profit sales of medical marijuana “are likely operating outside the protections” of state law. Cooley has long maintained that California dispensaries that engage in over-the-counter sales to customers do not meet a legal definition of ‘collectives’ or ‘not-for-profit’ entities.
By contrast, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris has previously voiced strong support for protecting the legal rights of patients who use cannabis medicinally.
Please visit norml.org for continued updates on this race.