Jerry Brown Announces Bid For Re-election

“You really will find few people who will tell you with a straight face that California isn’t better off than it was before Governor Brown took the oath of office,” says Dan Newman with the governor’s campaign.

Asked whether Brown had any new proposals to run on this year, Newman again pointed to the governor’s track record and said voters should judge him by what he’s done so far: “By any objective measurement, California’s in a better place than it was,” Newman said.  “He took office with a $26 billion deficit that everybody said was unfixable.  And he literally silenced the critics – except for two guys who decided they wanted to be governor.” 

The “two guys” Newman’s referring to are tea party Assemblyman Tim Donnelly and former U.S. Treasury Department official Neel Kashkari.  Both Republicans were quick to criticize Brown’s taking credit for turning the economy around, saying far too many Californians still live in poverty.

“He said California’s on a comeback.  I’ve traveled all over the state – not just for a handful of photo-ops like he has – and lemme tell you, I don’t know where the comeback is,” Donnelly said.

“Governor Brown loves to just sweep problems under the rug, pat himself on the back and move forward.  Meanwhile, millions of California families are struggling,” Kashkari said.

By any measure, Brown enters the campaign on strong footing.  He’s an incumbent governor in a blue state, and he’s raised more than $17 million.

ORIGINAL STORY (AP) -- California Gov. Jerry Brown says he will seek re-election.

The 75-year-old Democrat said on his campaign website Thursday he's excited to tackle the challenges facing the nation's most populous state.

The announcement was expected. Brown has been raising money for another run.