Jerry Brown’s allies praise candidate’s record in new ad

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It looks like Jerry Brown’s political pals finally have something nice to say about their choice for governor. Up until now, the independent expenditures spending money to boost Brown have focused on his opponent, Meg Whitman. Whitman’s campaign has responded with a fair share of its own negative ads, though she has also worked to introduce herself to voters by accentuating the positives about her business record.

A new radio ad this week paid for by service employee unions and electrical workers, opens with a shot at Whitman, but the bulk of the 60-second spot is focused on Brown’s record. The ad says it will ‘take more than a personal fortune or campaign sound bite to balance the budget and fix the economy.’ It then goes on to extol Brown for creating ‘1.9 million new jobs as governor. He got rid of the governor’s jet and limousine and built up the largest budget surplus in state history.’

[Updated: 1:02 p.m.] ‘When Jerry Brown left office, the unemployment in California was a then-record 11% ... and he turned ‘the largest budget surpluis in state history’ into a $1 billion deficit,’ said Whitman spokeswoman Andrea Jones Rivera. ‘For 40 years, Jerry Brown has had his chances and he has failed over and over again.’

The ad will run in Southern California and the Central Valley, according to David Koenig, a spokesman for Working Californians, the union-funded group that paid for the ad. Koenig did not say how much was being spent on the ad, only that it was a ‘significant buy.’

-- Anthony York in Sacramento