California Gov. Jerry Brown has announced he is running for re-election this year. The State’s top executive posted a photo on Twitter earlier today of him taking out paper.
If Brown, 75, is re-elected in November, he will serve a fourth term as California governor. No governor has ever served more than 10 years in office; Brown, a Democrat, has already served 11 years as California’s commander-in-chief.
Brown, the longest-serving and oldest governor in the State’s history, has already begun fundraising for his last run at the office, according to reports. Due to term limits, Brown will not be able to run again for governor should he win in November.
Term limits were imposed upon the gubernatorial office in 1990, when Proposition 140 passed seven years after Brown’s first stint as governor. Since Brown had served as governor prior to the passage of Proposition 140, his time in office was grandfathered; term limits only applied to those seeking office after 1990.
The longest-serving governor prior to Brown was Earl Warren, who led the State from Jan. 1943 to Oct. 1953 before vacating the office to accept an appointment to serve as the U.S. Supreme Court’s Chief Justice.
Elected to his third term in 2010, Brown previously served as the State’s governor from 1975 to 1983 and was the successor to Ronald Reagan. Jerry Brown’s father, Pat Brown, also was California governor from 1959 to 1967.
The announcement to seek re-election comes on the heels of state legislators pouring over how best to respond to the current drought plaguing rural and urban areas across California.
Earlier today, California legislature reportedly approved $687 million in drought relief funding. The money would aid those communities hit hardest by the State’s current drought with emergency funding and relief. Funds would be drawn from bonds already approved by voters.
The bill now goes to Brown’s desk and would take effect immediately upon his signature.
In addition to his tenure as governor, Brown also served as the State’s Attorney General from 2007 to 2011, mayor of Oakland between 1999 and 2007, and California’s Secretary of State from 1971 to 1975.
