LOCKYER WILL SUCCEED LUNGREN AFTER CLOSE VICTORY OVER STIRLING

Bay Area Democrat Bill Lockyer on Tuesday won the hard-fought race for
California attorney general over his Republican rival, Dave Stirling.

Lockyer's lead over Stirling continued to widen throughout the night,
although the race remained one of the closer statewide contests on the
ballot.

Lockyer and Stirling were vying to succeed Attorney General Dan Lungren as
the state's top law-enforcement official. Lockyer, a state senator from
Hayward and career legislator, was trying to keep Stirling, Lungren's chief
deputy, from becoming one of the few Republican office-seekers to win a
statewide race on a day dominated by Democrats.

Stirling, at a gathering of Republican Party supporters in Newport Beach,
expressed optimism late Tuesday even as he watched his early lead slip away
as more votes were tallied. The conservative former state legislator and
one-time judge had not given a concession speech before midnight.

Lockyer, meanwhile, was hoping to benefit from Lt. Gov. Gray Davis' strong
performance in the governor's race. While both Lockyer and Stirling had
played down the importance of a coattail effect in their race, Lockyer aides
were confident a strong turnout by Democrats could only help their cause.

The new attorney general inherits an 890-lawyer office that handles
everything from death-penalty appeals to defending state agencies -- and a
post that often has been a launch pad for a run at the governor's mansion.
Lungren was only the most recent example of a candidate who sought to parlay
the attorney general's job into a run for governor.

Lockyer and Stirling waged a bitter campaign that grew more acrimonious in
its final weeks as polls showed the two candidates in a close race. By the
end of the campaign, Stirling and the Republican Party were openly
questioning whether Lockyer had smoked marijuana while a member of the
Legislature. And Lockyer was blasting Stirling for refusing to enforce the
state's ban on assault weapons.

The two candidates offered voters a sharp contrast, with the
archconservative Stirling pitted against Lockyer, a liberal backed heavily
during the campaign by labor unions and trial lawyers. Throughout the
campaign, Lockyer fended off attacks about his liberalism by citing crime
initiatives he supported in the Legislature, as well as his long endorsement
of capital punishment.

Stirling, meanwhile, tried to position himself as the best qualified
law-enforcement candidate, citing his role as chief deputy under Lungren.
Stirling, a former state legislator and judge, also counted on getting votes
based on the cachet of his chief deputy title on the ballot.

But despite Stirling's law-enforcement credentials, Lockyer managed to pull
some law-enforcement and Republican Party support from his opponent, who
received lukewarm backing from the state's Republican-dominated district
attorneys.

Lockyer surpassed Stirling in fundraising throughout the campaign, although
Stirling received a big boost in the stretch from tribes with a stake in the
outcome of Proposition 5, the Indian gaming initiative.

Checked-by: Don Beck