Three weeks ago, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley declared victory in the very tight race for state attorney general. Today, he conceded defeat as he trailed by more than 50,000 votes. This means San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris will be California’s next top cop. Cooley’s campaign consultant Kevin Spillane said that Cooley lost because down ballot candidates don’t get a lot of attention from the media and that the District Attorney lacked name recognition in Los Angeles County. But AirTalk made numerous attempts to schedule interviews with Cooley and it wasn’t until very late in the game that he agreed to come on the show. If name recognition in LA County was the problem, was it a strategic mistake for Cooley to not be more available to KPCC and other media outlets? Should candidates invest more time talking directly to voters?
Guest:
Frank Stoltze, KPCC political reporter