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Gov. Brown spending little on reelection despite $22-million war chest

California Gov. Jerry Brown's reelection campaign had $22.3 million in cash on hand at the end of June. Above, the governor speaking last month before signing the 2014-15 state budget.
(Gregory Bull / Associated Press)
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Gov. Jerry Brown’s reelection campaign raised $1.6 million during the six weeks that ended June 30, finishing the period with $22.3 million in cash on hand.

The governor, who placed first in the June primary election with 54% of the vote, reported that his campaign spent just $269,494 in the first half of this year. Republican Neel Kashkari finished second in the June primary with 19.4% of the vote and will face Brown in the November general election.

That Brown has spent so little is no surprise to Jaime Regalado, professor emeritus of political science at Cal State L.A. “That’s Jerry. He is frugal. He runs frugally if he is not severely challenged and I don’t think he feels he is severely challenged.”

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In 2013, Brown’s reelection campaign spent just $207,000.

Kashkari has not yet filed his campaign finance report for the period through June 30, which is due next week. He previously reported his campaign spent $2.6 million this year through mid-May.

Kashkari will file his disclosure report by the deadline next week and believes it will show him to be competitive, according to Mary-Sarah Kinner, a spokeswoman for his campaign.

“The union bosses and special interests will continue to fund a governor who does nothing to change the status quo which has California ranked near the bottom in jobs and education and number one in poverty,” Kinner said in a statement. “Neel will have enough resources to communicate his message to voters who are seeing firsthand that Brown’s ‘California Comeback’ has been the destruction of the middle class.”

Brown’s biggest donor during the latest six-week period was the Democratic State Central Committee of California, which contributed $550,000.

Supporters who gave Brown the maximum contribution of $27,200 during the period include the California Cable and Telecommunications Assn., the American Council of Engineering Companies, the American Beverage Assn. California PAC, Granville Homes, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245, PepsiCo Inc., Paramount Pictures Group and the Teamsters’ Drive Committee.

Brown’s campaign report comes a day after a poll was released by the Public Policy Institute of California showing the governor with a nearly 20-point advantage over Kashkari.

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Follow @mcgreevy99 for news from Sacramento.

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