Jerry Brown Passes the Torch to Gavin Newsom in Democratic Party ‘Unity’ Ceremony

California Gov. Jerry Brown endorsed Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom to take over his job after this year in a Democratic Party “unity” ceremony in Sacramento on Wednesday.

The Los Angeles Times reported:

Rallying Democrats for the November election, Gov. Jerry Brown said Wednesday that he looks forward to passing the baton to Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the party’s candidate for governor, who in turn promised to continue the progressive agenda pursued by Brown.

Standing in front of about four dozen activists and other Democratic candidates for state office, the 80-year-old governor said he would campaign for Newsom, saying the 50-year-old candidate would bring a “creative, energetic” approach to the governor’s office.

“Gavin Newsom will get stuff done. There is a time for an old guy, and there is time for a young guy,” Brown said, drawing laughter during the event at the state Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento. “I was the right man at the right time, and right now Gavin Newsom is the right man at the right time for the next four years in California.”

…

“Now, I think I’ve done a hell of a lot, but I didn’t do so much that I didn’t leave a lot of problems for Gavin Newsom to solve,” Brown quipped.

Newsom responded by praising Brown’s performance, crediting Brown’s “progressive” left-wing policies for California’s economic grown and vowing to continue them.

He also pledge to fight to maintain the 12-cent-per-gallon gas tax that Brown signed into law last year, against a Republican effort to repeal the tax hike by referendum this November.

And he pledged to campaign to “put Nancy Pelosi back in the speakership” of Congress.

Newson largely agreed with Brown across two terms together in state government. He initially opposed the high-speed rail project that Brown embraced, but later flip-flopped on the issue and now supports it.

Newsom will face Republican businessman John Cox, who finished a surprising second in the California primary last week.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named to Forward’s 50 “most influential” Jews in 2017. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.