Published
5 years agoon
SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Jerry Brown predicted Tuesday that Republicans would face disastrous electoral consequences if a federal judge’s ruling to strike down the Affordable Care Act holds.
Brown spoke about the health care law during an appearance at the Sacramento Press Club as he prepares to leave office on Jan. 7 after serving a record four terms. In a meandering question-and-answer session with reporters and Brown family biographer, Miriam Pawel, Brown reflected on his tenure, defended major infrastructure projects and talked about the difficulties of waging a presidential campaign.
Brown, 80, was elected in 1974 at age 36 and served for eight years, then elected again in 2011 for two more terms. He also ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 1982, sought the presidency three times, headed the California Democratic Party, and served as mayor of Oakland and California attorney general.
Asked if it was a mistake to run for president three times, Brown responded with a simple “yes,” then added, “one too many times.” He declined to say which if any Californians he thinks could take on Trump in 2020 but said it’s difficult to run a nationwide race from a home base of California.
“You’ve got to be in the mix on the East Coast, that’s still where the power is,” he said.
Brown defended his plans to build a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco and to build two massive water tunnels to reorganize how water is transported from Northern California to the drier south. Both projects are mired in environmental and other lawsuits and will not be completed before Brown leaves office.
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