(Updated with fundraising totals)
Washington (CNN) – After months of controversy, Sarah Palin's speech Friday night at a California state university brought in record amounts of money for the school. Palin spoke at a black-tie fundraising gala sponsored by a foundation of the California State University Stanislaus.
"The gala is on track to be the most successful fundraiser in the university's history," University of California Stanislaus spokeswoman Eve Hightower told CNN, adding the foundation will exceed its fundraising goal.
According Hightower, the event netted $200,000 plus there were $58,000 in donations of "in kind services."
California gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown alleged his opponent, Meg Whitman, of disseminating propaganda about him in the same way the Nazis did. (PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images)
(CNN) - Given California's colorful political history, perhaps it's no surprise the just-kicked off gubernatorial race has taken a peculiar turn, with one candidate accusing the other of using Nazi-like tactics.
During an apparent off-the-cuff interview with a KCBS reporter published Wednesday, state Attorney Gen. Jerry Brown, the Democratic candidate, alleged opponent Meg Whitman of disseminating propaganda about him in the same way the Nazis did.
"It's like Goebbels...Goebbels invented this kind of propaganda," said Brown in reference to Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda. "He took control of the whole world. She wants to be president. That's her ambition, the first woman president. That's what this is all about."
The comments were made while Brown was jogging and his campaign dismissed the remarks as mere "jogging talk."
Washington (CNN) - Add Jerry Brown and Terry Branstad to the list of former governors coming a step closer to winning their old jobs back.
Branstad captured Iowa's GOP gubernatorial nomination Tuesday, winning just over 50 percent of the vote in a three candidate field. Branstad previously served four terms as governor, from 1983 to 1999. He now faces off in the general election against Democratic incumbent Gov. Chet Culver, who's battling for a second term in office. Recent polls indicated Branstad leading Culver in November matchups.
Jerry Brown is also a step closer to his goal of returning to the governor's office in Sacramento. California's attorney general, and two-term California governor from 1975 to 1983, easily won Tuesday's Democratic gubernatorial primary over six minor candidates.
Los Angeles, California (CNN) – California Republicans nominated two women Tuesday to lead their political ticket in November, bringing an end to two bruising GOP primary battles for governor and Senate.
Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman easily defeated state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner in the race for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. She faces state Attorney General Jerry Brown, a former governor, in the general election.
"It has been a tough campaign, but I'm a stronger candidate tonight because of it,” she said. “I'm battle-tested now. And I'm ready to give Jerry Brown the toughest election fight he's faced in his 40 years of politics."
Whitman poured more than $71 million of her own funds into the primary race and has said she was prepared to put in as much as $150 million to win the office. Whitman ran a hard-hitting media campaign in an effort to paint Poizner as liberal, and is expected to continue this aggressive approach with Brown. He easily captured the Democratic nomination.
"To serve again would be a deep honor," said Brown, who added that he would be the best equipped to help solve the state's economic troubles.
Whitman immediately went on the attack saying that when Brown was governor, state spending and unemployment increased.
(CNN) - California Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown appears to be building up his warchest for what will likely be a very expensive general election.
Brown's campaign reports Thursday that the candidate has $20.6 million dollars in the bank for his bid for governor. The campaign also says that Brown's raised $21.4 million dollars since the beginning of the year and has spent a mere $246,000 in 2010. Brown, a former two-term governor from 1975-1983, faces no serious opposition in next month's Democratic primary.
In the battle for California's Republican gubernatorial nomination, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, a billionaire, has already spent nearly $70 million of her own money. Her opponent, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, a multi-millionaire, has spent more than $20 million of his money on his campaign.
California holds its primary on June 8.
–Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn
(CNN) – A third straight poll of California voters indicates that Meg Whitman has a slight lead over Jerry Brown in this year's battle for California governor.
A Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California survey released Monday indicates that Whitman's multi-million dollar television commercial campaign has erased her once-unknown status in the Golden State.
If the general election for California governor were held today, 44 percent of registered voters in the state would back Whitman, with 41 percent supporting Brown, according to the poll. Whitman's three point advantage is within the survey's sampling error. Fourteen percent of those questioned say they are undecided.
Whitman also narrowly leads Brown in two other recent surveys, by three points in a Field Poll and five points in a Public Policy Institute of California survey.
Whitman is the billionaire former CEO of eBay who also served as an adviser and surrogate in 2008 for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign. Brown is California's attorney general and former two-term governor from 1975-1983.
Washington (CNN) – Jerry Brown described California as "failing" Tuesday evening, and vowed to bring Democrats and Republicans together to help revive the state's economy if he is elected governor in November.
"I think we have to sit down, starting not next year, but right after the election, and get in the Republican leaders and all the members of the legislature," Brown, who served as governor from 1975 to 1983, said in an interview on CNN's 'Larry King Live.' "The way the budget works now is they have four leaders from – two from each party. And they do it. That doesn't work. You've got to get all 120 legislatures in the room, day after day and month after month, keep the focus on solving that budget deficit."
Earlier in the day, Brown declared his bid for the Democratic nomination, a formality, of sorts, as he has been laying the groundwork for some time to run again for governor.
(CNN) - California Attorney General Jerry Brown jumped into the race for the state's next governor Tuesday, saying "we need someone with insider's knowledge but an outsider's mind" to help solve its problems.
In a video message posted on his Web site, Brown said, "Our state is in serious trouble, and the next governor must have the preparation and the knowledge and the know how to get California working again."
If elected, this would be the second time around for Brown, who served two terms as California Governor from 1975-1983. Brown has already amassed at least a $12 million-dollar war chest and he has attracted the support of big Hollywood kingmakers; David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg are among those who have publicly endorsed him. So far no other big name Democrats are in the race; San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, once presumed to be Brown's fiercest primary opponent, dropped out of the contest last October.
The most recent surveys of California voters, conducted in mid-January by the Public Policy Institute and the Field Poll, indicated Brown leading the top Republican candidates - besting Meg Whitman by 5 to 10 points; and topping State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner by 15 to 17 points.
One top Democratic donor who was torn between backing Brown and former eBay CEO Whitman tells CNN,"This is not the time in California's history to have someone who has never served in government deal with our problems."
(CNN) – California Attorney General Jerry Brown plans to announce Tuesday that he's entering the race to be his state's next governor, three sources confirm to CNN.
If elected, this would be the second time around for Brown, who served two terms as California Governor from 1975-1983. Already Brown has amassed at least a $12 million dollar war chest and he has attracted the support of big Hollywood kingmakers; David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg are among those who have publicly endorsed him. So far no other big name Democrats are in the race; San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, once presumed to be Brown's fiercest primary opponent, dropped out of the contest last October.
The most recent surveys of California voters, conducted in mid-January by the Public Policy Institute and the Field Poll, indicate Brown leading the top Republican candidates – besting Meg Whitman by 5 to 10 points; and topping State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner by 15 to 17 points.
One top Democratic donor who was torn between backing Brown and former eBay CEO Whitman tells CNN," this is not the time in California's history to have someone who has never served in Government deal with our problems." This would be Whitman's first time in public office; both she and Poinzer are pouring tens of millions of dollars from their own fortunes into their races.
From CNN Politics
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