November 2, 2010: The Redemption of Jerry Brown

November 2, 2010: Jerry Brown is elected Governor of California. It was a stunning comeback for a politician that most political observers had given up on long ago.

Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. was born on April 7, 1938 in San Francisco. His father, Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, was Governor of California from 1959 to 1967, but was beaten for a 3rd term by Ronald Reagan. Pat had wanted to become the 1st Catholic President in 1960, but his campaign went nowhere, and while that year did see the election of the 1st Catholic President, it was Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

Jerry considered becoming a priest, but dropped out of the necessary school, and instead graduated from the University of California in Berkeley and Yale Law School. He joined a law firm in Los Angeles, and, in 1968, he won his 1st political office, to that city's Community College Board of Trustees. He was elected California's Secretary of State in 1970, despite Reagan's re-election.

After Reagan left the Governorship after 2 terms, Jerry, then the State's Secretary of State, ran for the office in 1974. In a hotly contested Democratic Primary, he got 38 percent of the vote, beating out Mayor Joseph Alioto of San Francisco with 19 and Assembly Speaker Bob Moretti with 16. In the general election, he beat Reagan's Lieutenant Governor, Houston Flournoy, 50.1 percent to 47.2. Brown won only 3 of the 10 Counties in Southern California: Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Imperial, but Los Angeles County gave him his margin of victory.

His lifestyle was unconventional, especially for a politician. He was single, but dated some well-known women, including singer Linda Ronstadt. He kept a small apartment near the State Capitol in Sacramento, rather than move into the Governor's Mansion. Tonight Show host Johnny Carson once joked that Brown skateboarded to work.

But the man derided as "Governor Moonbeam" won a 2nd term in 1978. He defeated Evelle Younger, who had succeeded him as the State's Attorney General, and had previously been the District Attorney of Los Angeles, successfully prosecuting Charles Manson and Robert F. Kennedy's assassin Sirhan Sirhan. This time, Brown won 56 percent of the vote, including 49 of California's 58 Counties.

At the time, the law allowed him to run for a 3rd term as Governor in 1982. Instead, he ran for the U.S. Senate, against Mayor Pete Wilson of San Diego. Despite it being a good year for Democrats nationally, people in California were tired of Brown, and Wilson won, 51.5 percent to 44.8. Brown won only 5 Counties: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Alameda (Oakland) and Yolo. He went into political exile.

In 1989, he began a comeback, being named Chairman of the California Democratic Party. He ran for President again in 1992, soliciting campaign contributions through a toll-free "800 number." (It's no longer in service.) Despite having name recognition on his side, he finished 3rd among Democrats, behind Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas and former Senator Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts. By the time of the California Primary on June 2, Clinton pretty much had the race wrapped up, and Brown's only chance at preventing an actual clinch of the nomination by Clinton was to win his home State. Even there, he finished 3rd.

For the 2nd time, his political career seemed dead and buried. Wilson was California's man of the moment. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1988, and was elected Governor in 1990. In 1994, he was opposed for re-election by Jerry's sister, State Treasurer Kathleen Brown. But it was a big year for Republicans, and she did not come close to becoming the 3rd Brown to be elected Governor. Pat Brown lived long enough to see his daughter's defeat, dying in 1996, without seeing his son make another comeback. Kathleen has never run for office again.

In 1995, Jerry began a talk show on an Oakland radio station, showing he was still in tune with current events in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1998, he ran for Mayor of Oakland, and, despite being a 60-year-old white man (who had lost his famous hair) in a majority-black city, he won. He won again in 2002, and was returned to the office of California's Attorney General in 2006.

In the interim, California had passed term limits on all elected officials, including a 2-term limit for the Governor. That law was why Brown had served only 2 terms as Mayor and 2 in his 2nd go-around as Attorney General. But since he had served as Governor (and as Attorney General) before the law was passed, he was constitutionally permitted to try again -- but (in each case) only for 2 more terms.

In 2010, he regained the Governorship, defeating former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, 53 percent to 40. After the 2003 recall of Governor Gray Davis, and then 7 years of Arnold Schwarzenegger proving that he was a celebrity in over his head as "The Governator," Californians realized that even ol' Governor Moonbeam would have been an improvement. (Hopefully, after Reagan and "Ahnold," California will never elect another Republican actor to high office.)

His return to the Governorship in 2010 was a Democratic highlight in what was mostly a big year for Republicans, who gained 63 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, their best performance since 1938, and enough to take control; and 6 seats in the Senate, though that wasn't enough to take control.

Among the new Senators elected were Republicans Marco Rubio in Florida, Rand Paul in Kentucky, Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire, Rob Portman in Ohio, Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania, and Ron Johnson in Wisconsin. Although 10 Democrats were re-elected, including Barbara Boxer in California, possibly "on Brown's coattails," no new Democrats were elected to the Senate that year.

Brown won a 4th term as Governor in 2014, his best performance, getting slightly under 60 percent of the vote against Neel Kashkari, a Kashmiri-American who had served under President George W. Bush as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

The term-limit law meant that he couldn't run again in 2018, even if he wanted to. But he let office as popular as ever. Hey, give him 40 years, and he'll get it right. Although it wasn't all consecutive, he served 16 years and 5 days as Governor of his State, longer than anyone in American history.

Having entered the office of Governor of California at the age of 36, making him the youngest Governor in the State's history, he left office as the oldest, 80. Given that most States have a 2-term limit on their Governors -- although many still don't, like New York, and some, like New Jersey and North Carolina, limit their Governors only to 2 consecutive terms, allowing for a 3rd after a hiatus -- this feat is unlikely to be repeated in any State. Certainly, not at ages of 36 or under and 80 or older.

In 1990, Brown met Anne Gust, then an executive for clothing company The Gap. A native of the Detroit suburbs, she's a graduate of Stanford University and the law school at the University of Michigan. She's 20 years his junior, but, being that they were then 52 and 32, it didn't make nearly as much of a difference. They have lived together ever since, although they did not get married until 2005. Brown is not known to have any children.

As of November 2, 2022, they live on a ranch in Colusa County, outside Sacramento. Jerry Brown finally has something in common with Ronald Reagan: He's an elderly ex-Governor who married a redhead and lives on a ranch in California. Kathleen is also still alive, married to her 2nd husband, having had 3 children with her 1st, although none has shown any sign of running for office.

*

November 2, 2010 was, like most Election Days in America, a Tuesday. The day before, the San Francisco Giants won the World Series for the 1st time since moving from New York, defeating the Texas Rangers.

Football was in midweek. There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The Washington Wizards beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 116-115 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Miami Heat beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 129-97 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 100-88 at the Quicken Loans Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons, 109-86 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 90-76 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 124-105 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

And there were 4 games in the NHL:

* The Ottawa Senators beat their arch-rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-0 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the San Jose Sharks, 1-0 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-3 at Rexall Place (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.

October 7, 2003: The Recall of Gray Davis

October 7, 2003: California voters recall Governor Gray Davis. He did not deserve this.

Joseph Graham Davis Jr. was born in 1942 in The Bronx. His grandfather, William Rhodes Davis, was a wealthy businessman who betrayed America by aiding Nazi Germany. His father, Joseph Graham Davis Sr., was an advertising executive for Time magazine, and an alcoholic. His mother nicknamed him "Gray" for "Graham." In 1954, the family moved to Los Angeles.

He graduated from Stanford University, where he starred on the golf team, and Columbia University Law School back in New York. He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, earning a Bronze Star. He also saw that those serving, those wounded, and those killed were disproportionally poor: Black men, Hispanics, and Southern whites.

This spurred him into politics. He helped elected John Tunney (son of former Heavyweight Champion Gene Tunney) to the U.S. Senate in 1970, and Tom Bradley to be the 1st black Mayor of Los Angeles in 1973. In 1974, he ran in the Democratic Primary for Treasurer of California, but lost. Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, son of former Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, was elected Governor that year, and took Davis on as his Chief of Staff. It was joked that when Brown ran for President in 1980, challenging fellow Democrat Jimmy Carter, Davis was the one really running the State.

Davis was elected to the State Assembly in 1982, and State Controller in 1986. He lost the Democratic Primary for Senate to Dianne Feinstein in 1992, but was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1994, despite the Democratic nominee for Governor, State Treasurer Kathleen Brown (sister of Jerry and daughter of Pat), losing to incumbent Republican Pete Wilson.

He was elected Governor in 1998, winning 58 percent of the vote against Dan Lungren, the State's Attorney General and a former Congressman. He vastly improved the State's education system, reduced crime, and legalized same-sex domestic partnership (though not marriage). In spite of a Statewide electricity crisis all through calendar year 2001, he was re-elected in 2002, albeit with a plurality vote in a 3-way race: He got 47 percent; the Republican nominee, Bill Simon Jr., a far-right banker and the son of a U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, got 42 percent; and Peter Camejo, an environmental activist nominated by the Green Party, got 5 percent.

But budget issues, wildfires in Southern California, and the lingering anger over the electricity crisis made him very unpopular in 2003. Darrell Issa, a far-right Congressman from San Diego, gathered enough signatures to trigger the State Constitution's recall provision, in the hope that he would be elected Governor.

Davis called the recall election an "insult" to the 8 million voters who had voted in the 2002 gubernatorial election. He tried to depict the recall as a $66 million waste of money that could allow a candidate with a very small percentage of the vote to become Governor -- potentially, someone who was very liberal or conservative, as there are no primaries in a recall election. He was right.

Where he was wrong is that he tried to run against the recall Yes/No vote itself, instead of against the candidates that were trying to replace him. And while the candidates running against him, most but not all of them Republicans, ranged from the qualified-on-paper to the absolutely ridiculous, including a porn star, one name stood out: A wealthy real estate investor who also happened to be one of the most famous actors in the world, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Let's be clear about this: Had the man who ended up running against him been a previously unknown businessman named Arnold Strong (which is the name that Ahnold used in his first U.S. movie), Davis would have won. But, for the 2nd time in less than 40 years, California was fooled by a bunch of grumbling conservatives who hoped that a celebrity, a popular actor, could fool the voters into thinking he was moderate enough, and then they could enact their agenda.

There were 2 questions on the ballot:

1. "Shall Gray Davis be recalled (removed) from the office of Governor?" The "Yes" vote was 55.4 percent. Davis won Los Angeles County, the San Francisco Bay Area, and 3 of the 4 coastal Counties north of the Bay Area's Marin County. That was it: Everybody else voted "Yes."

2. "If Davis is recalled, who should replace him as governor?" Schwarzenegger got 48 percent of the vote. Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, the leading Democrat, got 31 percent. The next-highest candidate, State Senator Tom McClintock, got 13 percent. He was elected to Congress as a Republican in 2008.

Schwarzenegger was elected to a full term in 2006, getting 56 percent of the vote against State Treasurer Phil Angelides, who got 39 percent. Angelides won the Counties of Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, San Francisco, Alameda and Marin. "The Governator" won the other 52 Counties.

As with Ronald Reagan, elected a Republican actor as Governor backfired, very badly, and California descended into the kind of crises that made what it had before seem tame. And, as with the first time, voters turned to Jerry Brown to get them out of it. Brown had been the State's youngest Governor, and he became its oldest. And, as with the first time, it worked.

Schwarzenegger hasn't run for public office again, although that is due as much to his health issues as to the political climate of America in general and California in particular. But he has been one of the Republicans who opposed Donald Trump. As a native of Austria, he knows how bad Fascism is.

Davis has never run for public office again, either, and has returned to the practice of law.

*

October 7, 2003 was a Tuesday. There was only 1 score on this day, and it was in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Florida Marlins defeated the Chicago Cubs‚ 9-8‚ on Mike Lowell's pinch-hit home run in the 11th inning. The Cubs had tied the game at 8-8 on Sammy Sosa's 2-out‚ 2-run homer in the bottom half of the 9th, to send the game into extra innings. The teams combined to hit 7 homers, to set an NLCS record.

Everyone talks about Game 6 of this series. They never seem to consider that if the Cubs had simply won Game 1, there never would have been a Game 6.

September 5, 1975: President Gerald Ford Faces an Assassination Attempt

September 5, 1975: President Gerald Ford faces an assassination attempt on a visit to Sacramento, the capital of California.

He was visiting the city to attend the annual Sacramento Host Breakfast, a gathering of wealthy California business leaders at the Sacramento Convention Center. The new Governor, Jerry Brown -- Edmund G. Brown Jr., son of former Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown -- refused to attend, because he wanted to show them, after 8 years of the archconservative Ronald Reagan, the new Governor wasn't going to be their friend.

To spite Brown, a Democrat, who was already talking about running for President in 1976 -- or, perhaps, to counter-spite him -- they invited President Ford, a Republican, as was Reagan. Ford, who had become President 13 months earlier upon the resignation of Richard Nixon, knew that winning a term of his own would be difficult, and that California would be crucial. (This included in the Republican Primaries, in which Reagan was expected to run.) So he accepted.

In August 1975, The New York Times printed an article detailing Ford's visit to California in September. It included the fact that, as a Congressman from Michigan, he had voted against the Clean Air Act of 1970.

This angered Lynette Alice Fromme. Born on October 22, 1948 in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica, California, As a child, she was a member of the Westchester Lariats, a Los Angeles-based dance group that appeared on The Lawrence Welk Show -- and had even been invited to perform at the White House, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was President. As far as I know, this is the only time that someone who would go on to attempt to assassinate a President would visit the White House before that President took office.

In 1967, she became a follower of cult leader Charles Manson. Another of his followers, George Spahn, noticed that she made a sound like a squeak when he touched her, so he gave her the nickname "Squeaky." She was not charged in connection with the Tate-Labianca Murders, unlike Manson and some of his other followers.

In 1975, she was 26 years old, still committed to the imprisoned Manson, and paranoid about the environment. When she saw the article about Ford, she saw a chance to strike a blow for both the environment and Manson.

Ford was crossing L Street from the Senator Hotel to the State Capitol, shaking hands, at 10:02 AM. Fromme got within 2 feet of him. In his memoir, Ford wrote, "As I stopped, I saw a hand come through the crowd in the first row, and that was the first active gesture that I saw, but in the hand there was a gun."

Fromme didn't know that she needed to pull back the gun slide to insert a cartridge into the pistol's chamber. She pulled the trigger, and nothing happened. Secret Service Agent Larry Buendorf grabbed the gun, and forced Fromme to the ground. Other Agents pulled Ford away, and dragged him to the Capitol's entrance.

Ford was unhurt, and, when the Agents determined that the threat was over, he resumed his schedule, including meeting with Governor Brown. He returned to Washington that night. He would go back to California later in the month -- and face another assassination attempt, totally unconnected to this one.

Had the attempt succeeded, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller would have become President. Next in line was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Carl Albert of Oklahoma.

Ford lost the California Primary to Reagan in 1976, and almost lost the nomination to him. He won it, and did win California in the general election, but narrowly lost both the popular vote and the Electoral Vote to former Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia. In 1981, he opened his Presidential Museum in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The U.S. Attorney's office in Sacramento donated Fromme's gun to the Museum. Ford lived until 2006.

Fromme was convicted of attempted murder, and sentenced to life in prison. On Christmas Eve 1987, she escaped, but was captured 2 days later. She was released in 2009, after serving 34 years.

As of September 5, 2022, she is 72 years old, and lives with a fellow ex-con in Marcy, New York, outside Syracuse. Unlike most of Manson's followers, she has never renounced him.

*

September 5, 1975 was a Friday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in a doubleheader Memorial Stadium, the result of a rainout on the preceding May 6. The O's won the opener, 5-4. Ken Singleton, later to broadcast for the Yankees, hit a home run for the O's. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-2 with a walk.

Graig Nettles and Chris Chambliss each had 3 hits for the Yanks, in support of George "Doc" Medich, but to no avail.

The O's won the nightcap, 2-1. Ross Grimsley outpitched Larry Gura, and this was one of the games that led Yankee manager Billy Martin to ask that Gura be traded, which led to him pitching well against the Yankees for the Kansas City Royals over the next few years. Brooks only appeared as a pinch-hitter in this game, and did not reach base. Future Yankee Rick Dempsey got 3 hits, but the rest of the Yankees only got 2 hits: A home run by Bobby Bonds, and a single by Sandy Alomar Sr.

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-2 at Shea Stadium. Dave Kingman hit a home run for the Mets, not exactly a surprise. Mike Vail also hit one for them, which was a bit of a surprise. Tom Seaver only went 6 innings, but got his 21st win of the season. Lou Brock went 1-for-4 with a stolen base.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 11-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Willie Horton hit 2 homers for the Tigers. Indians manager Frank Robinson, not yet retired as a player, did not put himself into the game.

* A doubleheader was split at Jarry Park in Montreal, the result of a rainout on the previous July 2. In the 1st game, the Montreal Expos beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3. Richie Zisk hit a home run, and Willie Stargell had a single as a pinch-hitter. Pepe Mangual drew a bases-loaded walk off Kent Tekulve to win the game in the bottom of the 10th inning. The Pirates won the 2nd game, 5-2. This time, Stargell went 1-for-4, his hit a solo home run.

* A doubleheader was split at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, the result of a rainout on the previous August 6. In the 1st game, the Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3. Bill Bonham outpitched Steve Carlton. In the 2nd game, the Phillies won, 6-3. Mike Schmidt went 4-for-8 with a homer and 2 RBIs over the 2 games.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 2-for-5 with a homer and 2 RBIs. Johnny Bench went 0-for-3, but did draw a walk.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Uncharacteristically, Rod Carew went 0-for-4.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Hank Aaron went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. Dave Winfield went 2-for-4.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the California Angels, 5-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now named Angel Stadium of Anaheim). George Brett went 5-for-5 with 4 RBIs.

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-3.