As they say, "It ain't over till the fat lady sings." It is tempting, nevertheless, to predict that an Indian-American woman will occupy the governor's mansion in South Carolina come November, and an Indian American may become attorney general of the largest state in the country, California.

Nimrata 'Nikki' Randhawa Haley, 38, the Republican state representative from Lexington, S.C., may have gotten a huge lead, but she still has to win the runoff scheduled for June 22.

Though she secured 49 percent of the vote in the June 8 primary and her nearest rival, U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, got a measly 22 percent, Haley fell little more than 1 percent short of what was needed for an outright victory.

Kamala Devi Harris, the district attorney of San Francisco, sailed to her Democratic Party nomination for the attorney general race defeating former Facebook executive Chris Kelly handily despite the millions he poured into his campaign from his own pocket.

Harris secured 33.3 percent to 15.8 percent. Harris now faces off against Republican Steve Cooley, currently Los Angeles district attorney.

Some might call it foolhardy to deign to predict that Haley will defeat the Democratic candidate in November, leave alone win the June 22 runoff.

But party high-ups are egging Barrett to concede defeat and let the now steely and reborn Haley run against the Democratic nominee, state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, in November.

"The voters of South Carolina made a clear choice in Nikki Haley, notwithstanding the possibility of a runoff. The outcome is all but certain," Nick Ayers, executive director of the powerful Republican Governors Association, said in a statement after the vote count.

"Nikki Haley withstood a barrage of innuendos and slurs in the closing days of the primary season and persevered to the finish with dignity, determination and confidence. Moreover, receiving half of the votes against two other statewide incumbent Republicans and a sitting congressman speaks volumes of her strength as a candidate and bodes very well for her in the general election. We congratulate Nikki for her grit and determination."

A come-from-behind candidate, Haley may still be getting used to the idea of inevitable victory – from a largely desultory campaign, she jumping to first place with Tea Party support just three weeks before the primaries with an endorsement from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Even a barrage of sexual misconduct allegations plus a racial slur could not displace her from the top; in fact, it catapulted her further. Even her own campaign was giving her just a 20 percent lead going into June 8.

"I am thrilled with the strong support from all parts of the state. I have spent the last five years trying to make sure people know the power of their voice and yesterday, the people were loud and clear," Haley told News India Times via e-mail.

"We won 42 out of 46 counties and we exceeded the 50 percent mark in many of those," she said, adding she is confident she will win not just on June 22, but also on Nov. 3.

Looking at the numbers listed on TheState.com, South Carolina's major news outlet, the total GOP votes cast were 421,266, and the total Democratic votes equaled 188,771.

Haley took in 205,895 votes and the other GOP candidates split 215,371. Sheheen took 111,315 and the rest of the Democratic candidates split 77,456 votes among them, according to the data. Haley is almost a shoo-in to the governor's mansion. She got twice as many votes as the winning Democrat in a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats.

Asked by News India Times why she had taken the high road in face of the accusations about infidelity and whether she would fight them, Haley shot back, "First, my husband and I have been 100 percent faithful to each other." She added she is "not going to waste an ounce of energy on ridiculous claims."

"The people of South Carolina deserve a governor who will focus on the important issues of fiscal responsibility, accountability and transparency," Haley said.

As Governor, she said, she wants "to reform government from the outside in" and make sure people feel involved with every policy decision. "We need a government that works for the people, not against them," she asserted.

Haley's strength lies in projecting herself as the "outsider." "We knew from the beginning it was us versus the establishment," she said in her victory speech.

She drew a distinction between "Republican" and the more wide-ranging term, "Conservative," and said she was not going to rest until there is a "Conservative" state senate, house and governor in the state.

"We said yes to South Carolina not just being Republican, but becoming conservative," said Haley, who vehemently opposes President Obama's agenda. "We said no to spending; we said no to bailouts; we said no to backroom deal-making. These last few weeks, we said no to the dark side of politics."

Reflecting on being the daughter of immigrant parents "who reminded me every day how blessed we are to live in this country," Haley drew in her husband, Michael, standing next to her, turning to kiss him.

"This is what kept me strong," she said adding, "I think he'll make a cute first man, don't you?"

Democrat Harris' victory speech was in stark contrast. She is very much a part of the Democrat Party establishment. She vowed to protect the environment, fight big oil, support health-care reform, and, at home, fight truancy among youth, her pet project.

"When the president passed health-care reform, it was the right thing to do," she said. "People deserve to have medical care when they need it. The attorney general has got to stand up and support that. It must be the work of the next attorney general to ensure that the disaster and tragedy that happened in the Gulf of Mexico never happens in California."

With several longtime Democrats in the state, including U.S. Rep. Barbara Boxer, facing tough re-election battles, Harris conceded, "We've got a challenge."

"Let's celebrate tonight and (tomorrow) let's do what we've been doing: not, in the face of challenge, throw up our hands, but roll up our sleeves and bring home the ticket in November," she said.

But Republican opponent, Steve Cooley, wasted no time attacking Harris for her liberal credentials in her victory speech – she opposes the death penalty, is weak on pursuing illegal alien criminals, not to mention the scandals plaguing her D.A.'s office, according to him.

"Steve Cooley represents the status quo: He refuses to take on a broken criminal justice system that is failing to make our communities safer," Brian Brokaw, Harris' campaign manager, was quoted as saying in response in the San Francisco Chronicle. "He sides with Texas oil companies that want to repeal California's greenhouse gas laws. He has pledged that he will fight to repeal the national health-care reform law."

Harris used $3 million for her primary campaign and will need much more to fight Cooley even though or maybe because she has been endorsed by the likes of fellow-Democrats Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, both of California, and a host of other high-profile politicos as well as some media outlets.

Physician Ami Bera, running for Congress against incumbent Republican Rep. Dan Lungren from California's District 3, was unopposed in the primary.

Before June 8, the most challenging race was Haley's; now it appears Harris has to fight a tougher battle against Cooley and Bera may have a tough battle as well, but the Democratic Party is solidly behind him, hoping to change the red seat into blue.

"I've spent the last year traveling around the region, listening to the stories of teachers, workers and small business owners and their message is simple – we have problems, we deserve real solutions," Bera, who was born and raised in California, told News India Times earlier.

"The America I grew up in was an America full of opportunity, where if you worked hard you could succeed," Bera said. He wants to preserve such opportunities for future generations.

The physician is said to have collected way more than Lungren, and mostly from small donors, for his race.

Lungren has been in office from 1979-89 and was re-elected in 2005.

The 3rd Congressional District is Republican leaning in terms of voter registration, reports say, but Democrats have made gains in recent years, bringing the two parties neck-and-neck.