Jerry Brown to Enter California Governor Race as Lone Democrat
The announcement will make Brown, 71, the only prominent Democrat to seek the partys nomination in the 2010 race for Californias top elected office, allowing him to conserve cash for the general election in November. On the Republican side, former EBay Inc. Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman and the state insurance commissioner, Steve Poizner, are vying for the nomination in the June primary.
Californias election is being waged during the worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression, which has led Schwarzenegger and lawmakers to raise taxes and slash spending on programs including schools and health care. Politicians are now struggling to erase another $20 billion budget deficit through June 2011, a gap that is threatening to drain California of its cash and has left it with the lowest credit rating among U.S. states.
Brown, whose father, Pat Brown, was governor from 1959 to 1967, has been active in California politics for 40 years. As governor from 1975 to 1983, he championed environmental causes. As attorney general, he won a fraud settlement from mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. and urged the state Supreme Court to overturn the constitutional ban against gay marriage, known as Proposition 8, passed by voters in November 2008.
Campaign Funds
As he raised money for another run at the governorship this year, Brown emerged as the leading contender for the Democratic nomination. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, 42, withdrew from the race in October, citing family and mayoral duties. Brown had more than $12 million in his campaign accounts by the end of 2009, records with the Secretary of States office show.
Brown will announce his candidacy today, according to the person familiar with his plans, who requested anonymity before the formal declaration. His campaign said in a statement yesterday that Brown would make a “major” announcement at 11 a.m. Pacific time.
In 1970, Brown was elected Secretary of State and four years later won the governors office, succeeding Republican Ronald Reagan. He was re-elected in 1978.
As governor, Brown pushed for energy-efficiency rules on appliances, strengthened protection of the coastline and established a labor-relations law for farm workers, generating support among Latinos. He lived in a rented apartment instead of the governors mansion and jettisoned an official limousine in favor of a Plymouth, helping earn him a reputation for eccentricity.
Bid for Presidency
Brown unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992. In 1998, he was elected mayor of Oakland, where he backed waterfront business development and established a military school for middle and high school students. In 2006, he was elected attorney general.
The election comes as the state has been battered by the fallout from the real-estate markets collapse, which helped drive unemployment to 12.4 percent by the end of last year. The national average was 10 percent that month. The recurring budget crisis and job losses have battered Schwarzeneggers standing with voters.