Jerry Brown: early annoucement

19 January 2010 |permalink | email article

Some California Democrats have expressed concern that Jerry Brown has yet to officially announce that he’s running for a third term as governor. But an informed source, who asked not to be identified, confirmed to me that Brown [1975-83], and the sole primary candidate, will declare his candidacy around the middle of next month. The filing period opens Feb. 15, and extends to early March.

Both Republican primary candidates for the nomination, billionaire Meg Whitman, ex-CEO of eBay, and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, a mega-wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneur, have huge personal war chests at their disposal.

But it turns out that Brown was a very active fundraiser in the final weeks of 2009, pushing his total tally past $12 million for the year, according to finance campaign statements, with most of it untouched going into the primary season. But, compared to Whitman’s early primary expenditures, it is a drop in the bucket.

Still, Brown has had some stunning initial success by tapping into a treasure trove of wealthy Republican donors. They include William Robinson, the reclusive billionaire founder of DHL, the global courier company, and Los Angeles billionaire developer Rick Caruso, each of whom have been huge contributors to lame duck Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the past.

Quotable

“My name is Conan O’Brien, and I may soon be available for children’s parties.”

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