Jerry Brown

Although Jerry Brown comes from a political family, he has an unusual background for a politician, even in California, and is considered an oddity in some corners. The son of longtime California public figures Pat Brown, he originally didn't plan to be a public official. After attending public schools, he planned on entering the priesthood, and became a Jesuit in 1958, the year his father was elected Governor by a record-breaking margin. However, this life didn't suit him and he left the order in 1960 to become a lawyer, which he did after graduating from Yale Law School in 1964. He worked for some prestigious law firms during the 1960's. His family suffered a setback when his father was soundly defeated for reelection in 1966 by retired actor/businessman 'Ronald Reagan as shady and opportunistic. After practicing law, he returned to elective office when, against expectations, he ran for Mayor of Oakland, a moribund city in the eastern San Fransisco bay area, as a reformer and won by a landslide. In office, he pushed priorities that differed from those he had earlier in his career: vigorously fighting crime, bringing business downtown, and encouraging charter schools, which alienated some liberals. He achieved success in all of those endeavors and was reelected in 2002 by an even larger margin. In 2006, he made his most improbable comeback to date. He ran for state Attorney General, even though he had been skeptical of law enforcement and friendly to trial lawyers during most of his career and had appointed judges widely condemned as overly lenient on criminal defendants. In spite of that, he won his party's nomination easily and defeated a credible opponent in the general election by a wide margin. He will assume office in January of 2007.