California’s presumptive Democratic nominee for governor, Jerry Brown, badly trails the leading Republican candidates on the fund-raising front. Oddly enough, though, he appears well-situated for the general election.
On paper, the matchup looks uneven. While GOP rivals Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner have raised $110 million between them since early 2009, mostly by tapping into their personal fortunes, Mr. Brown has raised $21 million in that period, according to state campaign-finance data.
Yet some political analysts said Mr. Brown is in good shape for the November showdown because the GOP candidates have spent much of their cash in the brutal primary that will conclude next week. Mr. Brown, who faces no serious Democratic challenger, has spent next to nothing.
Campaign-finance reports filed last week show Ms. Whitman, eBay Inc.’s former chief executive and the front-runner for the GOP nomination, has spent $81 million since the beginning of 2009. Mr. Poizner, California’s insurance commissioner, tallied $24 million. Mr. Brown, who is currently the state’s attorney general and was its governor from 1975–83, has spent a mere $540,000 in the same period.