California: Charlie Brown

Aren't you excited that, with nearly two years until the next election, here I am offering campaign news?

Except there are two significant developments today in California of which you should be aware.

First, Jerry Brown is throwing his hat in the ring to be California's governor for a second time.  He hasn't formally announced, but this interview signals that he will.

It was 1974 when Jerry Brown ran for governor as a dashing 36-year-old reformer, the embodiment of change in Watergate's aftermath.

"I was the new spirit," Brown recalled. "That was my slogan."

No one would mistake Brown for a new spirit today. At 70, he occupies a prime spot among the elders of California politics.

Democrat Charlie Brown has conceded defeat in the 4th Congressional District race against Republican Tom McClintock.

In a letter to supporters, Brown said that the margin of victory for McClintock, about 1,800 votes out of more than 370,000 tallied, was too much to overcome, suggesting that he'd decided against asking for a recount.

State Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) informally claimed victory in his congressional race this week, and said he will address the media Monday afternoon at his Roseville campaign headquarters to make a more formal announcement.

McClintock, who would move from his Southern California base to represent the 4th Congressional District, said in an informal e-mail message to supporters that he believed both that he had won the race and that the margin was too large for a recount to make a difference.

Democrat Alyson Huber took the lead for the first time Tuesday in the 10th Assembly District race, up by 531 votes over Republican Jack Sieglock as of 7:06 p.m.

That gave her a percentage of 46.7 percent to 46.4 percent for Sieglock. Provisional ballots in Sacramento County, where Huber is from, apparently changed the calculus in the race.

It was unclear Tuesday how many votes remained to be counted in Sacramento or San Joaquin County, home to Sieglock's base in Lodi.