Jerry Brown defeats Meg Whitman in election for California governorship

Thursday, November 4, 2010 

Candidate Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr., seen here, was the reigning Democrat nominee who won in the 2010 election for the position of governor of California.

On the Republican side, Margaret Cushing "Meg" Whitman, seen in this picture, was the lead nominee for her party in the election, which she lost despite having spent $141 million to fund her campaign.

On Tuesday night, twenty-seven years after previously completing his second term as governor of California, candidate Jerry Brown has again won the race for the position.

Attorney General Jerry Brown, of San Francisco, California, was the lead nominee for the Democratic Party, facing off against the lead nominee of the Republican Party Meg Whitman, of Long Island, New York, who had spent a record US$141 million to support her campaign. More than approximately $80 million of that was diverted to knocking out California Insurance Commissioner and also Republican candidate Steve Poizner, of Houston, Texas, who was also running in the election but was defeated early in the campaign.

The election ended with only 42.2% popular support for Meg Whitman as contrasted with 52.8% of votes for Jerry Brown. A major issue that arose during the elections was the bad economy, something that many people cited as the reason for their votes. Some mudslinging, including an incident when an unidentified Brown supporter was found to have called Whitman a "whore", also ensued a few days before the night of the election took place in the Fox theater, according to Cnet.

When the night of the election came and the new governor of California announced, the former Jesuit seminary student gave his five-minute victory speech, showing optimism for the future of California and the state budget:

"I see California once again leading in renewable energy, in public education and openness to every kind of person, whatever their color is," Brown said. "I mean, we’re all God's children."

Sources

• Declan McCullagh. "GOP's Whitman, Fiorina lose California elections" — Cnet, November 2, 2010
• Stu Woo. "New Chapter Begins for California’s Jerry Brown" — The Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2010
• Union-Tribune Editorial Board. "Gov. Jerry Brown, again" — Sign On San Diego, November 3, 2010
• Javier Panzar. "Brown Defeats Whitman In State Governor Race" — The Daily Californian, November 3, 2010