LOS ANGELES (AP) — California Gov. Jerry Brown announced Thursday he will seek re-election this year, an expected step into a contest in which he is the favorite.
The 75-year-old Democrat said in a statement on his campaign website that he had taken out papers to seek the office, a procedural step required to run for office.
“There is nothing I would rather do,” Brown said. “So today, I have taken out the papers to run for re-election. I am here and ready to go.”
Brown has been bankrolling campaign funds for months.
The governor has been credited with easing the state’s long-running budget problems, but California is facing a potentially devastating drought, multibillion-dollar unfunded pension bills and its freeways are aging and strangled with traffic.
“I am prepared and excited to tackle these challenges and the many others that lay before us,” Brown said.
Democrats hold every statewide office and control both chambers of the Legislature. Polls show Republicans in the race so far remain unknown to many Californians. Brown’s rivals include former U.S. Treasury official Neel Kashkari and state Assemblyman Tim Donnelly of Twin Peaks, both Republicans.
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