If you’re looking for a not-so-long long shot in tomorrow’s AG race — think Drosselmeyer at the Belmont Stakes — keep an eye on Democrat Rocky Delgadillo.
While Chris Kelly and Kamala Harris have been smacking each other around on TV, Delgadillo has mounted a smaller, quieter campaign. His less-frequent ads tout his time fighting gangs and insurance companies when he was the Los Angeles city attorney.
Delgadillo’s strategy is no secret; he even spells it out on his Web site:
• 45% of the primary votes will be from the LA Media Market.
• Only 25% of the primary vote is from the San Francisco Media Market.
• Rocky’s 8 years of service as the LA City Attorney, provides a level of name recognition that far surpasses every candidate in the LA Media Market.
• Over 30% of the vote will be Latino, and 7 out of 10 Latino votes will come from Southern California.
We checked in with Delgadillo consultant Kam Kuwata on Monday while the campaign was still searching for the right place to hold Election Night activities.
Legal Pad: How do you see things shaping up one day before the election?
KK: All the poling that we hear about seems to indicate two consistent things ... The early polls had Harris up front by a bigger margin. She seems to be slipping a bit …. And that Kelly comes from virtually nowhere to where Rocky kind of is.
Actually there’s a third thing, and that is the percentage of undecideds [voters] is in the high 20s up to even the low 40s. Like I’ve been telling everyone, all the media, the front runner is a three-headed monster: Undecided, don’t know and don’t care. Who knows where they’re going to fall?
Legal Pad: Could they fall to Rocky?
KK: They could. Will they fall to Rocky? That’s crystal ball time …. A million people did mark the ballot for Rocky when he ran against Jerry Brown in 2006.
Legal Pad: What do you make of the ad war between Kamala Harris and Chris Kelly?
KK: The viciousness of the Harris-Kelly campaign has been substantial. It comes down to ‘She’s incompetent. He’s snooping.’ …. Election night will test the whole question of whether that last-minute negative campaigning upset their pathway to a win.
Legal Pad: What percentage of the vote do you think the Democratic primary winner will take?
KK: Probably mid-20s to high-20s.
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