Here’s a reminder that big bucks don’t always necessarily decide elections: the latest on how now California Gov. Jerry Brown’s political war chest was tiny compared to his opponent, GOPer Meg Whitman:
Democrat Jerry Brown won the California governor’s race despite being outspent nearly 5 to 1 by opponent Meg Whitman, according to campaign finance reports filed yesterday. The former eBay CEO, who shattered the record for personal spending by a candidate, spent $178.5 million on her campaign, of which $144.2 million was from her own pocket, the AP reports.
Brown’s campaign spent just $36.5 million, although he was aided by $26 million in spending by outside groups, mainly labor unions. Whitman, who lost by more than a million votes, spent a total of $43.25 for vote in her favor.
I’ve had a theory about Jerry Brown since the election: he is a candidate who is probably one of the least detested in California. In past elections many of those running for Governor aroused great emotion or they seemed to have long range political ambitions that they barely tried to hide. It’s hard to find people who passionately hate Jerry Brown, few think that he has an eye on the White House and if he’s considered an old, sometimes out-of-the-box thinking pol that may have helped him.
He’s already doing battle with GOPers in California over wanting to put new taxes to a vote:
California Governor Jerry Brown said the state’s residents should be given the chance to decided whether to extend tax increases to limit budget cuts, calling Republican opposition to a vote “unconscionable.”
Brown, a 72-year-old Democrat, wants lawmakers to call a special election in June to allow voters to chose whether to extend higher vehicle fees and sales and income taxes to help balance a projected deficit that’s equal to 20 percent of the state’s general fund budget in the coming fiscal year.
Brown, who was governor from 1975 to 1983, has vowed to fix the financial troubles that have left California with the biggest deficit of all U.S. states, and the lowest credit rating. His $84.6 billion plan calls for $12.5 billion of spending reductions. Republicans oppose the tax extensions, which Brown says would offset another $12 billion of cuts, mostly to schools and welfare programs.
“Under our form of government, it would be unconscionable to tell the electors of this state that they have no right to decide whether it’s better to extend current tax statutes another five years or chop another $12 billion out of schools, public safety, our universities and our system of caring for the most vulnerable,” Brown said late yesterday in his first State of the State speech since assuming office last month.
With an economy bigger than Russia’s, California has coped with $100 billion of budget gaps in the past three years amid the global recession. Brown’s plan deals with an $8.2 billion deficit that has emerged in the current budget as well as a $17.2 billion hole in fiscal 2012, which begins July 1.
A recent poll find majority support for Brown’s idea:
A majority of Californians back Governor Jerry Brown’s plan to ask them to extend tax increases to help close a $25.4 billion state budget gap, poll results released on Wednesday showed.
Brown, a Democrat sworn in to a third term earlier this month as leader of America’s most populous state, wants lawmakers to help him put a measure to voters in June that would propose extending tax increases that expire this year to raise money for California’s cash-strapped government.
Revenue from tax extensions, $12.5 billion in spending cuts and other moves would balance the state’s books under Brown’s budget proposal.
Revenue from tax extensions would also go to bolster the state government’s finances in future years.
California’s government, like many other state governments across the nation, is struggling to balance its books in the face of weak revenue caused by the worst recession since the Great Depression.
The survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found two-thirds of Californians in favor of a special election on Brown’s tax measure and 58 percent saying they were generally satisfied with his overall budget plan.
“Brown’s proposed special election on a tax and fee package to prevent further budget cuts is a good idea, according to 67 percent of adults,” the survey report said. “Among likely voters, 66 percent say a special election is a good idea.”
Stay tuned. Brown is unlikely to be a push-over — and may arouse stronger passions in coming months.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.