Gov. Jerry Brown is ignoring his GOP opponent, Neel Kashkari, and is airing three TV ads to urge support for two issues on November’s ballot: a $7.5-billion water bond measure and the state rainy-day fund.
The two ballot measures Brown supports are Propositions 1 and 2. Prop 1 proposes to create more water storage, clean the state’s groundwater, help increase water recycling, and fix watersheds. Prop 2 would amend California’s requirements for the Budget Stabilization Account (BSA).
The Los Angeles Times reports Brown saying in one ad, “I’ve been around long enough to know the pendulum always swings in California, between wet years and drought, between booms and busts. And when it’s bad, people get hurt. Not enough water to grow crops. Deep cuts in vital services. Propositions 1 and 2 will even out the boom and the bust.”
Another ad features Brown speaking of the effects of the state’s severe drought. Both ads are being paid for by Brown’s reelection account.
The third ad shows a firefighter speaking of droughts and the difficulty of working amid state funding cuts during times when the state’s budget is variable. That ad is funded by a separate fund Brown created.
Although the ads will appear less than a month before the election, Brown does not mention his reelection in any of the ads. He doesn’t need to; he leads Kashkari in some polls by close to 20 points, and has amassed $23 million in his candidacy account with an additional $6 million for his support of the ballot measures. Kashkari has under $680,000 for his campaign, with almost $143,000 in debt.