LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline)-Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley says he's considering a run for California attorney general.

If Cooley decides to run he would join fellow Republican Tom Harmon, a state senator from Huntington Beach, in seeking their party's nomination.

Cooley, 62, has said he will not make a decision about a possible run until later this month. If elected, Cooley would succeed Jerry Brown as the Golden State's chief legal officer. Brown is widely considered to run for governor, a post he held more than two decades ago, before the state enacted term limits.

Elected LA county's top prosecutor in 2000, Cooley says that experience prepared him to be the state's chief law enforcement officer.

He told the News-Enterprise, a Southern California legal newspaper, that he had been "strongly encouraged in the last several months" to consider running for attorney general.

Former Los Angeles District Attorney Robert Philibosian told the newspaper that Cooley has enjoyed "a lot of support from Democrats," adding that Cooley "would transcend any party designation."

Democrats vying to succeed Brown include Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico of Newark, Assemblyman Pedro Nava of Santa Barbara, Assemblyman Ted Lieu of Torrance, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, former Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo and Chris Kelly, chief privacy officer for the Web site Facebook.

From Legal Newsline: Reach staff reporter Chris Rizo at chrisrizo@legalnewsline.com.