Steve Cooley Reflects on California’s Election Frustrations

Steve Cooley knows the frustration caused by “harvested” ballots and the seemingly endless vote-counting in California. His name has been trending on social media lately, particularly due to old news segments resurfacing about Kamala Harris’ surprise win in the 2010 California Attorney General election. Back then, Cooley was the Republican candidate and serving as Los Angeles County’s district attorney. He had declared victory on November 2, after initial results suggested he was ahead by as much as 8% at one point.

Cooley remarked, “This is a terrible mess. California has no will to clean it up.” He felt encouraged by the early vote counts, recalling, “These numbers are pretty good.” He asserted that on election night, after tallying all the votes including absentee ballots, he believed he had won.

However, he acknowledged that the race remained “within 1%,” which triggered an automatic recount of all ballots, including provisional ones. Cooley expressed concerns that these provisional ballots were largely “harvested,” leading to his loss once they were counted. “She beat me in all 58 counties and just fell short,” he said, highlighting the slim margins at play.

Despite his confidence, three weeks after the election, Harris was officially declared the winner. Cooley at the time declined to request a recount, stating it would cost millions if there was no change in the outcome. “There’s a huge incentive not to call for a recount,” he added.

Cooley is convinced that Democratic operatives were influential in securing Harris’s victory. “Most Democrats… are vote-harvesting,” he claimed, suggesting that a significant amount of provisional votes defaulted to Harris.

Interestingly, Harris’ office did not provide a comment regarding Cooley’s allegations.

Looking back, Cooley pointed out that California’s electoral process has not seen any improvement over the last 16 years. While he stopped short of labeling it “fraudulent,” he suggested that the system could be exploited, especially with live ballots being sent to all active registered voters. He noted, “Those ballots are out there, ready to be picked up and harvested, and that’s where fraud can happen,” he explained.

Despite the Trump administration’s promise to audit California’s voter rolls, Cooley believes such an audit would not have any impact on the upcoming 2026 primary. This is underlined by the recent Los Angeles mayoral race, where Spencer Pratt lost despite leading by 40,000 votes on election night, indicating possible complications with the voting process.

“These suspect ballots have already been harvested and mailed by individuals who return them on someone else’s behalf,” he highlighted. Cooley expressed skepticism about the Registrar-Recorder’s willingness to make significant efforts to rectify these issues, arguing they would rather avoid exposing their failures.

“This is a terrible mess. There’s no will in California to clean it up. There’s simply no will,” he concluded, reflecting on the ongoing challenges faced within the state’s electoral system.