Jumping Into the WayBack Machine with Jerry Brown to the Gubernatorial Election of 1978

In remarks at the Stanford Mansion on June 26 supporting The Maddy Institute’s  Bob Beverly Legislative Intern Scholarship Fund, Gov. Jerry Brown allowed that:

“You’re never down as long as another election is coming up.”

He noted that in the 1978 primary he was in a dead heat with Republican Attorney General Evelle Younger.

That was the same election when voters approved Proposition 13 by a 65 percent margin.

Brown had traveled the state denouncing Proposition 13 as a “fraud” and a “rip-off,” among other pejoratives. So the governor figured it might be wise to change strategy for the general election.

He told the landmark measure’s author: “Howard (Jarvis), you wrote this thing but I can make it work.”

Jarvis endorsed Brown, filmed a campaign commercial touting him, Younger took an ill-timed vacation in Hawaii and Brown was re-elected with 56 pecent of the vote.

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