Jerry Brown

Jerry Brown was elected governor of California in November 2010. Brown, a Democrat known for his early support of "radical" causes such as Cesar Chavez's championing of migrant workers, defeated Republican Meg Whitman, an eBay executive with no prior political experience who spent $140 million of her own money during the campaign. The election was unusual for several reasons. At the time of the campaign, California had already achieved both the highest population and the worst budget crisis of any US state, not to mention a 12 percent unemployment rate. Additionally, Brown, who previously served as governor for two terms in the 1970s, was only eligible to run for a third term because both of his prior terms as governor preceded California's adoption of a term limits statute. He would go on to serve one more term after being reelected in 2014.

Early Life & Education

Edmund Gerald Brown, Jr., universally called "Jerry," was born on April 7, 1938, in San Francisco, one of four children. His father, Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, was elected governor of California in 1958, and was reelected in 1962. By this time, Jerry Brown was a young man, and his father's experiences as governor helped spur an interest in politics. The younger Brown initially entered a Catholic seminary after attending a parochial high school, but soon transferred to the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned his bachelor's degree in classics in 1960. He graduated from Yale Law School in 1964, spent his first work experience clerking for the California Supreme Court, and took time off to travel in Latin America before moving to Los Angeles to take a job as a lawyer for a private firm.

Political Career

In 1970, Brown was elected to the position of secretary of state, and four years later, at the age of thirty-six, he won his first gubernatorial campaign. He declined to move into the governor's mansion, saying it was a waste of money, and also declined to use the state's private jet. Instead, he lived in an apartment, dating singer Linda Ronstadt and leading an active social life. As a governor during an era of economic recession, he sometimes went to great lengths to illustrate a point, such as prohibiting his office staff from fixing holes in the carpeting. According to Brown, no one who came to his office could fail to notice the state of the rug, and therefore "could not ask for too much money for projects" of their own.

Brown was reelected in 1978 and focused on developing solar and wind energy sources throughout California, beefing up environmental protection laws, removing tax burdens from small businesses, strengthening the community college system, and improving state-mandated educational standards. He also imposed mandatory sentences for some crimes, founded his own programs to further fight crime, and tried to work in a bipartisan, practical way with the state legislature. In spite of these accomplishments, some describe his first two gubernatorial terms as "tumultuous," theorizing that Brown may have been trying to establish a legacy distinct from that of his father and that Brown's aspirations to higher office at times had a disruptive influence on his efforts to govern his home state.

The next several years Brown spent traveling, doing volunteer work, and lecturing. He returned to work as a lawyer in private practice in Los Angeles, and mounted a failed bid for the US Senate in 1982. In 1989, he became chairman of the state Democratic Party, but resigned after two years, complaining that the growing influence of money on the political process had a corrosive effect on campaigns, elections, and ultimately the quality of government. Brown ran a failed attempt to win the Democratic nomination for president in 1992, characteristically distinguishing himself from others in the race by declining campaign donations of more than $100 and by setting up a toll-free number whereby voters could make campaign contributions. He succeeded in defeating Bill Clinton in six Democratic state primary races before dropping out of the race. In 1995, he turned to radio and pursued a brief stint as political talk show host, describing himself as "a recovering politician."

In 1998, Brown staged a political comeback when he was elected mayor of Oakland (where he had moved in 1993), a northern California city then plagued by a crumbling downtown, high crime rates, a poor economy, and low quality schools. As mayor, he used California state agency funds, as well as the power of eminent domain, to redevelop the city's downtown. To double the amount of redevelopment money allocated to Oakland, Brown used his powers as mayor to declare more of the city "blighted." His chief accomplishments included new housing meant to attract middle-class residents and the founding of two high-quality charter schools. In spite of setbacks such as a high murder rate, Brown was reelected mayor of Oakland in 2002.

Brown successfully ran for the position of California state attorney general in 2005, and began that job the following year. During his years as attorney general he focused most often on problems such as drugs, gang activity, white-collar crime, companies involved in the growing mortgage crisis, and companies that violated labor laws.

Reelection as Governor

"Breakdowns can lead to breakthroughs," Brown said in December 2010, when he held his first town hall meeting on the state financial crisis, one month before he officially took office as governor for the third time. He counseled legislators and voters to expect "deep cuts" in prison funding and education, and expressed frustration over the record-setting 100-day overdue state budget plan in 2010. Brown had his work cut out for him, as he promised during the campaign not to raise taxes without voter approval. Another challenge was that numerous propositions limiting the governor's ability to control state spending were passed in the decades since Brown's last term as governor.

Of his victory in the election, Brown stated dryly, "At this stage of my life, I have not come here to embrace delay and denial." His goals included a 15–20 percent cut in state budget spending; lowering taxes for the working and middle classes; raising the age at which state workers become eligible for their full pensions; eliminating the hundreds of state redevelopment funding agencies; and pursuing a major engineering project to divert water from the San Joaquin Valley in the north down to southern California, where water is a scarce resource. The proposed water project, now called California Water Fix and Eco Restore, was still pending as of 2018, with a proposed cost of $15 billion plus $8 billion for habitat restoration; its finished size would be larger than the "Chunnel" connecting England and France. Brown did slash state spending in 2012, and voters approved his proposed increases in income taxes on people earning more than $250,000 a year, as well as the state sales tax.

In 2014, Brown was elected to an unprecedented fourth and final term as governor. He continued to pursue many of his signature policies, including the Water Fix project and budget reform. In 2015, he also signed a controversial bill allowing assisted suicide, though he noted his personal struggle over the ethical questions involved in the issue. With term limits now applicable, Brown could not run for reelection in 2018. Instead he endorsed Democratic candidate Gavin Newsom, who won the campaign to succeed Brown.

Personal Life

Throughout his life, Brown, a devout Catholic, displayed an interest in diverse faiths and cultures. He spent time in Japan learning about Buddhism, and worked with Mother Teresa in India. In 1987 he traveled to Bangladesh as a CARE ambassador after disastrous floods there.

After several high-profile relationships in his youth, Brown married for the first time late in life, at the age of sixty-seven. His wife, former corporate executive Anne Gust, left her job at The Gap in 2005 to join Brown's campaign for attorney general. Brown appointed his wife special counsel to the governor, an unpaid position, after he took office in January 2011.

Bibliography

Fallows, James. "Jerry Brown's Political Reboot." The Atlantic, June 2013, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/06/the-fixer/309324/. Accessed 31 Mar. 2017.

McFadden, Chuck. Trailblazer: A Biography of Jerry Brown. U of California P, 2013.

Myers, John. "With One Final Signature, Gov. Jerry Brown Closes the Chapter On His Quest to Reshape California's Budget." Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2018, www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-jerry-brown-budget-legacy-20180701-story.html. Accessed 8 Nov. 2018.

Nagourney, Adam. "For Jerry Brown, the Face of California's Old Order, the Ranch is Calling." The New York Times, 24 Jan. 2018,www.nytimes.com/2018/01/24/us/jerry-brown-california-governor-retirement.html. Accessed 8 Nov. 2018.

Nagourney, Adam. "Success of Jerry Brown, and California, Offers Lessons to National Democrats." The New York Times, 29 May 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/30/us/politics/california-jerry-brown-democrats-primary-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders.html. Accessed 31 May 2017.