Sacramento, Calif. -- Conservative lawyer John Eastman and state Sen. Tom Harman are hitting Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley hard as the three attorney general hopefuls battle toward June's Republican primary. In interviews, news releases and public appearances, both men charge that Cooley is soft on crime and is too moderate for the GOP nomination. They deride his endorsements by newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times as 'liberal' and accuse him of using his public office for political gain. And they insist that he is going to lose. Cooley, 63, a brusque three-term district attorney, brushes off the accusations as sour grapes from two men who have never been prosecutors. He points toward his successful record and says his opponents' attacks overlook nuances on issues such as California's Three Strikes law. Harman, 67, and Eastman, 50, accuse him of opposing the law, but Cooley says he simply uses it carefully because any abuses could result in it being overturned. Political experts say the attacks are proof that Cooley is the one to beat. But, they caution, it's not going to be a cakewalk for the career prosecutor. 'If for no other reason than the way the two other candidates are going after him, it's worth assuming that Cooley is the favorite, based on name recognition,' said Dan Schnur, a former Republican strategist who now directs the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California. 'But what's interesting about this primary is that everyone has a credible claim to a different part of the electorate.' Eastman, until recently dean of Chapman University School of Law in Orange County, has the 'strongest credentials as a traditional conservative,' Schnur said. The constitutional lawyer has argued a number of conservative cases, was an outspoken proponent of Proposition 8, the ballot measure that eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry, and has a natural base because he regularly appears on conservative radio shows. Harman, a Republican lawmaker from Huntington Beach, has a statewide network of contacts from his time in the Legislature, said Schnur -- he's been in Sacramento since 2000. His campaign paints him as a true conservative, noting his right-of-center voting record on gun rights, abortion, taxes and business issues. But political observers point out that he initially ran for the Assembly as a more moderate Republican. Both men lost fights over their ballot designations, which must reflect a candidate's principal, current profession. Eastman, who has been working on a South Dakota case, wanted to be listed as 'Assistant Attorney General' but ended up with 'Constitutional Law Attorney.' Harman, who has been volunteering through an Orange County program that allows lawyers to work on trials as temporary deputy district attorneys, was ordered to drop 'prosecutor' from his ballot designation, and is now listed as an 'Attorney/Senator.' Cooley, meanwhile, has 'about as good of a ballot designation as you can get' -- District Attorney -- in a Republican Attorney General primary, said Allan Hoffenblum, a former GOP consultant. He's also well known and well liked in one of the state's largest media markets, Los Angeles, Hoffenblum said, where he's known for being tough on crime, including cases dealing with public corruption. 'Cooley is a tough district attorney, a Republican elected in an overwhelmingly Democratic county, and one reason is he doesn't play partisan politics,' Hoffenblum said. 'Add the fact that he has the best ballot designation ... and his name ID, and that you have two conservative opponents going after the same voters -- that would make him the favorite.' But, he added, 'No one knows,' what will happen come June 8. Part of the reason, Hoffenblum said, is that none of the candidates have raised much money. All three, however, have bought spots on slate cards sponsored by Republican groups and interests. Those glossy mailers, which will start pouring into mailboxes soon, often have a big impact on voters. Another reason: independent voters could come out in droves, in part because the governor's primary is far more interesting on the Republican side. Decline-to-state voters in California, who are allowed to choose which primary to participate in, last month hit an all time high, rising to 20 percent of registered voters. 'It's an extremely rigorous and competitive race,' said James Lacy, whose Landslide Communications is sending out the six million Republican mailers. 'It's anybody's race.' 