Kamala Harris in The Los Angeles Times

On Foreign Policy: The way to keep us safe is NOT to keep outsiders out

California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris said in an interview that she opposed the GOP measure because it set up an "untenable" system. Beyond the current 18-to-24 month vetting process, it would have required top federal officials to certify that individual refugees pose no threat. She recalled a heart-rending photo of a drowned Syrian toddler, part of a refugee family torn apart while trying to escape: "We can't allow the images of the tragedy of what happened in Paris to blind us to the image of a 3-year-old child who washed up on a Mediterranean beach." She said, "There is a drum beating, that the way to keep us safe is to keep outsiders out. That scares me. Ask native Americans: We are a country of immigrants." But, she added, "there's no question that we have to be vigilant."

On Principles & Values: First Indian-American to serve in the U.S. Senate

Harris' race and ethnicity were never a focal point of the contest, which she was projected to win handily. Many people focused more on the possibility that California might have elected the first Latina to the Senate if Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Orange) had won.

Harris' mother, Dr. Shyamala Harris, emigrated from India. Her father, Donald Harris, emigrated from Jamaica. According to the U.S. Senate's website, just nine black Americans have ever served in the Senate. Democrat Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois became the first black woman to serve in the body in 1993. A handful of Indian Americans have served in the U.S. House, including California's Dalip Singh Saund from 1957 to 1963 and current Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove), who was first elected in 2012.

On Abortion: Investigate fraud in anti-Planned Parenthood videos

Harris' officers seized video files from Daleiden's apartment. Daleiden said his "First Amendment work product" was taken. Daleiden characterized the search as "an attack on citizen journalism."

"Planned Parenthood's bought-and-paid-for AG has steadfastly refused to enforce the laws against the baby body parts traffickers," he said.

A federal judge has rejected Daleiden's journalistic claims, noting that the activist and his team used false identities, and selectively edited the material they captured on tiny cameras disguised as shirt buttons, despite state laws prohibiting secret recording.

Last summer, Harris said her office would investigate whether Daleiden and his agents violated state laws when they secretly recorded private meetings and closed-door conferences.

On Crime: Fulfill Proposition 69: fast analysis of all DNA samples

Officials whittled down the backlog by shifting cases among the state's seven crime labs that handle DNA testing. In addition, robotics helped reduce part of the process for analyzing sexual assault evidence from two days to two hours. Last year the labs analyzed 5,400 evidence samples, up from 4,800 in 2010 and 4,100 in 2009, according to the department.

The state's crime labs came under increasing pressure in January 2009, when Proposition 69 began requiring authorities to collect DNA samples from any adult arrested for a felony. But Jill Spriggs, who oversees the state forensic system, said that backlog is also gone. "That's been eliminated for almost a year now," she said.