(CNN) – Former eBay chief executive and current California gubernatorial candidate, Meg Whitman, has broken the all-time personal spending record for an American political candidate, dishing out $119 million in her bid for the governors mansion.
Whitman who is running against Democratic opponent Jerry Brown, surpassed the previous self-financed campaign record of $109 million dollars set by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on his 2009 reelection campaign.
Cashing in on your personal savings does not always guarantee a victory and according to a CNN/Time/opinion Research Corporation survey released September 8, the gubernatorial battle is too close to call.
The poll indicated that Whitman has a two-point advantage over Brown, 48 to 46 percent, which is within the sampling error.
Whitman believes she has gotten her money's worth stating, "I've invested in an entire campaign. I'm delighted with where we are." Adding that it takes a lot of money to be competitive in California, a state that has 2.3 million more Democratic voters than Republican voters and her job is to "spend money to get this message out, and to make sure that every Californian has the information they need to make an informed decision."
(CNN) – California gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown won the endorsement Tuesday of the former president he mocked-and then apologized for mocking-in the days before.
"I strongly support Jerry Brown for governor because I believe he was a fine mayor of Oakland, he's been a very good attorney general, and he would be an excellent governor at a time when California needs his creativity and fiscal prudence," Clinton said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times and confirmed to be accurate by CNN.
The two faced off in a heated debate in 1992 when both were seeking the Democratic nomination for president, but Clinton said Tuesday that the contentiousness is water under the bridge.
"The tough campaign we fought 18 years ago is not relevant to the choice facing Californians today," Clinton said. "Jerry and I put that behind us a long time ago."
(CNN) - Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown apologized Monday for comments he made over the weekend about former President Bill Clinton.
"Bill Clinton was an excellent president. It was wrong for me to joke about an incident from many years ago, and I'm sorry," Brown said in a statement.
Brown's comments were in reaction to a television ad released by his Republican opponent Meg Whitman's campaign, which shows an interview with Clinton – then a presidential candidate running against Brown for the party's nomination – during which he accuses Brown of raising taxes in California when he was governor in the late 1970's and early 1980's.
At a Democratic Party event on Sunday, Brown made a not-so-subtle reference to Clinton's involvement in the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
(CNN) – California gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, a Democrat, is in a tiff with former President Bill Clinton – or at least the Bill Clinton from nearly two-decades ago.
The brouhaha erupted after rival Meg Whitman's campaign launched a television ad showing an interview with Clinton in 1992 – then a presidential candidate running against Brown for the party's nomination – during which he accuses Brown of raising taxes in California when he was governor in the late 1970's and early 1980's.
Clinton was basing his comment on a CNN report at the time. However the CNN correspondent who reported the story, Brooks Jackson, wrote on factcheck.org Saturday that his reporting was inaccurate - taxes were not higher when Brown left office.
Speaking to voters at an event Sunday, Brown lambasted Whitman for running the ad, as well as Clinton himself for the decades-old comment.
"Meg Whitman, she stops at nothing," said Brown Sunday, which can be seen in exclusive video posted on Time.com. "She's even got Bill Clinton lying about me. That's right. Did you see that, where he said I raised taxes? It's a lie. I mean Clinton's a nice guy, but whoever said he always told the truth?"
(CNN) - It's too close to call in California's Senate and gubernatorial battles, according to a new poll.
A CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday indicates that Sen. Barbara Boxer holds a 48 percent to 44 percent margin over her Republican challenger, Carly Fiorina, but Boxer's 4-point advantage is within the poll's sampling error. Five percent of people questioned say if the general election were held today they'd vote for neither candidate and three percent were undecided.
"In a battle between two women, female voters will be a key constituency. Right now, 48 percent of women would pick Boxer compared to 43 percent for Fiorina. Six years ago, Boxer won 65 percent of the women's vote," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
(CNN) - A new poll suggests the California battles for governor and the Senate remain quite close.
A Public Policy Institute of California survey released late Wednesday indicates that Democratic nominee Jerry Brown leads Meg Whitman, the Republican nominee 37 to 34 percent, with a large 23 percent undecided. Brown's advantage is within the poll's sampling error.
Brown is the state's attorney general and a former two-term governor in the 1970's and 1980's. He has also served as Oakland mayor and California secretary of state. Whitman, the billionaire former eBay CEO who also was an adviser and surrogate for Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential bid, has spent more than $100 million of her own money so far on her bid for governor.
Brown led Whitman by one point in a Field Poll released earlier this month and by six points in a Reuters/Ipsos survey from June.
(CNN) – A new ad from California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman uses two clips of her opponent, Democrat Jerry Brown, from CNN programs in the mid-1990s the Brown campaign says distorts his words.
In the first clip, from Late Edition in 1995, Brown says: "You run for office and the assumption is, oh, I know what to do. You don't. I didn't have a plan for California."
In the second clip, from Crossfire in 1996, Brown says: "You need a real plan, something I'll acknowledge I did not have."
(CNN) - California's gubernatorial race, already fueled by a fierce debate over immigration reform and a mounting fiscal crisis in the state, reached another level Monday as the candidates sparred over money.
Attorney General Jerry Brown, the Democrat hoping to take the seat being vacated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, called his Republican opponent's latest ad, taking on his record on taxes, "completely false."
"[I]t's completely false," Brown told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King. "[E]verything you heard in that ad is completely false. And I'm really kind of disappointed that this first entry into politics does kind of the old attack, make up stuff, and throw mud."
(CNN) – A new survey indicates that it's all tied up in the battle between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman for California's top job.
According to a Field Poll released Wednesday, 44 percent of California voters say they'll back Brown, the Democratic nominee, in the state's contest for governor, with 43 percent saying they support Whitman, the Republican nominee, and 13 percent undecided. Brown's one point advantage is well within the survey's sampling error.
Brown led Whitman late last month by six points in a Reuters/Ipsos poll, the first non-partisan poll conducted since the June 8 primary.
(CNN) - A new poll indicates that the Democratic candidates hold single-digit leads over their Republican counterparts in California's gubernatorial and senatorial battles.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos survey, California Attorney General Jerry Brown holds a 45 to 39 percent advantage over Meg Whitman in the race for governor, with 14 percent undecided.
Brown, a former two-term governor in the 1970's and 1980's, has also served as Oakland mayor and California secretary of state. Whitman, the billionaire former eBay CEO who also was an adviser and surrogate for Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential bid, has spent around $90 million of her own money so far on her bid for governor.
From CNN Politics
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