Kevin Spillane is with the Cooley campaign. It was he - not the candidate, who announced the concession to reporters on a media call. Spillane said Democrat Harris was too far ahead for the outcome to change. A victory for Harris, the San Francisco District Attorney, means Democrats have swept the statewide elected offices. Spillane says that probably contributed to Cooley's loss:
"The reality is that when you're a down ballot candidate, you're simply a sailboat on a rather large ocean and you're at the mercy of the wave."
Cooley, the Los Angeles County District Attorney, has actually
received more votes than the top-of-the ticket Republican, Meg
Whitman. Harris has not yet declared victory, saying
she'll wait until the end of November, the deadline for counties to
finish counting ballots.