Kamala Harris decries Republican spending in attorney general race

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Democratic attorney general nominee Kamala Harris on Sunday accused national Republican leaders of trying to hijack her race against GOP rival Steve Cooley with a $1.1-million independent advertising campaign criticizing her 2004 decision not to seek the death penalty against a police officer’s killer.

Harris also announced that she plans to take legal action against the “shadow group’ that paid for the television ad and that she will disclose more details Monday morning.

While visiting Southern California churches and loyal Democrats to rally support for her campaign, she urged both the church and party faithful to help her combat the ad.

The ad was paid for by the Virginia-based Republican State Leadership Committee, which is headed by Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National Committee under President George W. Bush. Karl Rove, the chief political strategist in the George W. Bush White House, also is affiliated with the organization.

“I need your help. I need your help. There is a man by the name of Karl Rove in Washington, D.C., who has just put $1.1 million … into California to do a hit piece against me,’ Harris told church members at the Greater Zion church in Compton.

The ad criticizes Harris’ decision as San Francisco’s district attorney not to seek the death penalty against the man who killed San Francisco Police Officer Isaac Espinoza in 2004. When she ran for district attorney in 2003, Harris vowed never to seek the death penalty, which she says is unjust and immoral.

Cooley, the district attorney for Los Angeles County, said he was unaware that the GOP organization was going to weigh in on the campaign but said he was happy to see Harris criticized for her position on capital punishment.

“If you’re going to be a district attorney, you take that oath to uphold California’s Constitution. You should be aware there are provisions for the death penalty in the California Constitution,’ Cooley said Saturday during a campaign event sponsored by the Assn. of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs in Monterey Park. “You don’t get to … throw it out the window.’

-- Phil Willon and Cathleen Decker