Gov. Jerry Brown Cruises To Win 4th Term As California Governor
SACRAMENTO (CBS SF) – Gov. Jerry Brown cruised to victory on Tuesday and defeated Republican challenger Neel Kashkari to win his record fourth and final term as Governor of California.
Brown dominated the race against Kashkari amid a tough national political environment for Democrats that stemmed from widespread voter discontent with President Barack Obama.
Polls taken in the weeks before Election Day showed Brown leading Kashkari by a double-digit lead. In recent weeks, he has devoted his time campaigning for Proposition 1, a water bond, and Proposition 2, which establishes a rainy day fund. Both measures passed easily Tuesday night.
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"Since I've done it three times, I am not under any illusions that this is some kind of picnic," Brown told reporters about his next term, citing the record drought and need to keep the state checkbook balanced.
Brown argued during his campaign that he led a comeback by the state after the recession cost California more than a million jobs.
"Where once they called us a failed state, we are now showing the way," he said Tuesday.
The 76-year-old Brown is already the state's longest-serving governor. He logged two terms in the office from 1975 to 1983.
Brown won re-election after a muted and sometimes invisible gubernatorial campaign in which he never appeared to be threatened by Kashkari, a Republican making his first run for elected office.
A former U.S. treasury official, Kashkari helped lead the federal bank bailout during the recession.
Brown, a career politician, also ran for president three times and has served as state attorney general, secretary of state and mayor of Oakland.
The nation's most populous state with more than 38 million people has long-term problems that include a looming government pension crisis and troubled public school and water-supply systems.
Brown, however, kept his campaign anchored to an optimistic narrative that featured the state's now-balanced budget and job growth since the recession. The Democratic-controlled Legislature approved Brown's plans to send more money to high-need schools and restructure sentencing laws to allow lower-level offenders to go to county jails instead of state lock-ups.
Kashkari, 41, argued the governor was ignoring the plight of troubled schools and protecting the interests of powerful teacher unions that spent millions to elect him.
Yet Kashkari was unable to raise enough money to boost his name recognition or get his message across to a wide audience.
Turnout on Tuesday was projected to be just 46 percent, which would be the lowest on record for a California general election.
Brown, the nation's oldest sitting governor, would be 80 when his final term concludes.
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