Silicon Valley: After Bobby Jindal's unsuccessful bid for Louisiana Governorship, another Indian- American is fighting to become San Francisco's District Attorney in a nationalised watched election set for today (Dec 9, 2003).

Kamala Harris, 39, a lawyer by profession is likely to become the first Indian-American woman in the US to land a top prosecutor's job.

A recent poll for CBS 5-TV showed Harris maintaining a slight edge. Among 505 certain voters surveyed last week, 52 per cent said they supported Harris to Terrence Hallinan's 47 per cent. Hallinan's camp said the incumbent has never polled well but has a strong record on election day.

Harris, daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, had been relatively unknown at the outset of the campaign and published polling numbers never showed her above 19 per cent. However, she surprised many when she got 33 per cent of votes at the November 4 election coming second to incumbent Hallinan and edging out Bill Fazio by about 5,000 votes.

Harris has run her campaign on a platform critical of Hallinan's low conviction rate, and promised an aggressive prosecution of violent crimes, especially sexual exploitation and domestic violence against women and children.

"We see her as a member of the South Asian community and are proud to endorse her. It's absolutely historic as far as we're concerned that a South Asian might obtain such a high office," says Paul Grewal, President of the South Asian Bar Association of Northern California.

Grewal told 'North Gate News' that many of San Francisco's South Asians saw Harris as strong on issues that were important to them.

"One issue that we're sensitive to is hate-crimes. Post 9/11, many South Asians have been victims of hate-crimes and the District Attorney's office has been less than responsive to our interest in seeing those crimes prosecuted," Grewal says.

"Kamala contacted us very early and worked to build bridges and make introductions into the South Asian community as a whole and was eager to see us represented on campaign."

Harris has also the support of the African American community, with 'SF Bay View', a national Black newspaper throwing its weight behind her.

For the first time ever, a woman of African descent has a real chance of becoming San Francisco's District Attorney, the paper said in an editorial urging Black voters to vote for her.

Harris has acknowledged her own unique position as a woman of colour poised to take over the DA's office. In an interview with legal publication 'The Recorder', she discussed her ability to relate to many of San Francisco's diverse communities.

"I can walk very comfortably in the Bay view, as comfortably as I do downtown, as comfortably as I do in different sectors of the city that quite frankly don't really, necessarily see each other or speak with each other, talk with each other," she said.

PTI