The Return of the Prodigal Governor?

We need someone with insider’s knowledge, but an outsider’s mind,” Jerry Brown declares in summing up the key ingredient to becoming the next Governor of California. After months of speculation, Brown finally declared his candidacy for the state’s top job. Brown promised that if elected, he would add no new taxes (unless people vote for them) and downsize state government to return more authority to cities, counties and schools.

In essence, he claims he’s the only candidate that can save the state. But that’s a tough assertion to make, when the state is up to its eyeballs in debt, facing another $20 billion shortfall; when a lack of bi-partisan support keeps Sacramento stuck in a political quagmire; and when Californians are beleaguered with foreclosures, historic unemployment, layoffs and limited job prospects. “California by itself can’t end the national recession that is destroying so many jobs. But the partisan paralysis in Sacramento has made things much worse,” Brown stated in his announcement video. He pledged to “pull people together” to bring the state back to its previous glory, but conceded it won’t be easy.

Brown’s announcement came as no surprise. He expressed interest in replacing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger by forming an exploratory committee in 2008. But with a crowded field of Democrats vying for the job, Brown remained low-key while potential opponents in his party’s primary dropped out and supporters filled his coffers with more than $12 million. Brown now embarks on his campaign less than four months from the Democratic primary with no competition and having spent almost nothing.

Jerry Brown has made a life of politics. For four decades, he has played a role in California government. His experience ranges from Secretary of State of California, to two-term governor (1975-1983), to mayor of Oakland and now Attorney General. He argues that experience in government, not business, is what is needed to move the state forward. The 72-year-old Brown is running for an unprecedented third term in office as governor. Term limits don’t apply to Brown because he completed two terms in office before the limit was passed in 1990. That allows him to run again for another two terms, should he win in the November election.

Brown is pitching himself as a leader who knows how to deal with unions and handle politicians from all parties to focus on the economy, the environment and education. He stresses he’s not doing it for the glory. If he didn’t run again, he could walk off into the sunset with a clean legacy—as a governor who amassed a $5 billion surplus and got state budgets approved on time. His eight years in office are considered among the most innovative in state history. His visionary ideas on satellite technology earned him the nickname “Gov. Moonbeam,” and his environmental focus sought to turn California into a leader in solar and wind energy. Under his watch, the state adopted the nation’s first energy efficiency standards, the California Coastal Protection Act, and the first agricultural labor relations law in the country.

Upon his announcement, Republican candidates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner were quick to call him a “tax-and-spend liberal,” but the reality is that Brown was fiscally conservative, shrinking government and vetoing state employee raises. He also fought to eliminate capital gains taxes for many small businesses. On a personal level, he refused to live in luxury in the governor’s mansion, opting to sleep on a mattress on the floor of a cheap apartment he paid out of his own pocket.

Before he began his political career, Brown almost became a Catholic priest but abandoned his religious calling to go to UC Berkeley, and Yale Law School. Brown unsuccessfully ran for president of the United States three times, in 1970, 1980 and 1992. He also ran for U.S. senator in 1982, losing to Pete Wilson, who later became governor of California. In between, Brown took several years to study Buddhism in Japan and traveled to India to work with Mother Teresa.

From all of his life experiences Brown says he has learned the art of patience—and he’ll need a lot of it if he wins the gubernatorial race. He’s no longer the brash, 36-year-old governor who led the state over 30 years ago. He admits he’s wiser, more centered and cautious, ready for the battle of a lifetime. “At this stage in my life,” he says, “I’m prepared to focus on nothing else but fixing this state I love.”