Republican Steve Cooley conceded the California Attorney General’s election to Democrat Kamala Harris on November 24th.  Harris–endorsed by UDW–led Cooley by more than 50,000 votes with approximately 153,000 ballots still to be counted. 

Harris’ election means that Democrats swept to victory in all the state constitutional office elections. In the race for governor,  Jerry Brown defeated Meg Whitman  by 53.4 percent to 41.5 percent.

In the State Senate and State Assembly, most of the UDW-endorsed candidates were elected. Among the ballot measures,  UDW-backed Proposition 25, which calls for a simple majority vote instead of the current two-thirds requirement to pass the state budget, was approved by 55 to 45 percent.

Overall, more than 80 percent of all candidates endorsed or recommended by UDW won their elections.

“There is no question that UDW made a difference in California politics this year,” said Doug Moore, UDW Executive Director. “Especially in the Central Valley, UDW members made a huge impact, even in campaigns which we did not win.  We need to build on our success for the 2012 elections and beyond.

“We congratulate Governor-elect Jerry Brown and look forward to working with his administration to maintain the IHSS program,” Moore said.