Jerry Brown (D)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline)- California Attorney General Jerry Brown has taken the first step toward running for governor, a post he held decades ago.
The Democrat filed campaign paperwork Monday with the Secretary of State's Office, allowing him to form an exploratory committee. Brown has told Legal Newsline he is carefully considering whether he will run to succeed Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger next year.
With an exploratory committee, Brown may collect up to $25,900 in campaign cash from individual donors. Before the filing, contributors to Brown's AG campaign account were limited to $6,500 per person per election cycle.
Brown, 71, was California governor from 1975 to 1983. He was the mayor of Oakland, Calif., from 1998 to 2006, before being elected as the state's chief legal officer in 2007. He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nominations for U.S. president in 1976, 1980, and 1992.
Brown's filing came the same day a poll shows him more electable than San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, the only declared Democratic candidate for governor.
The Rasmussen poll of California also indicates that Brown leads all three Republicans currently in the race: former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell.
"Newsom is challenging Brown for the right to represent Democrats in the 2010 governor's race. All three Republican candidates hold a very modest edge over Newsom at this time, but if Newsom were to win the nomination, the political gravity of the state would likely give him a boost in the general election," Rasmussen said in its analysis.