well, Jerry
Mar. 2nd, 2010 05:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calimacJerry "Edmund G., Jr." Brown will formally announce today his candidacy for Governor of California. Ol' Jerry served as Governor before, in 1975-83, which affords us the opportunity to check out a few political statistics.
If elected, Brown, who will be 72 next month, will be the second Governor of California to serve a third term (the first was Earl Warren, who resigned during his third term to take some job in D.C.), and due to later-enacted but not retroactive term limits probably the last; and he would also be the oldest person ever elected to the office, though not at inauguration the oldest ever to serve. (That was Frank Merriam, who had just turned 74 when he left office in 1939, just after Jerry Brown was born.) When first elected, Brown was 36, the youngest Governor of California since the 1860s.
That's quite a spread, and so is the 28 years since he left office before. Is that some kind of national record? Surprisingly, it is not. California has never had a governor who served non-consecutive terms before, but 43 other states have (the other exceptions are HI, KS, NV, OR, UT, and WY), and three governors surpass him for length of break between service.
The record-holder is Cecil H. Underwood of West Virginia at 36 years (1957-61 and 1997-2001). He was 34 when he took office the first time and 78 when he left the last time. He ran for the job again a couple of times in the interim, but lost.
Next is James B. McCreary of Kentucky at 32 years and 3 months (1875-79 and 1911-15). He was 37 when he took office the first time and 77 when he left the last time. During the interim he served in both houses of Congress.
And then there's Sam Houston, who let 30 years and 8 months pass between his service as Governor of Tennessee (1827-29) and Governor of Texas (1859-61). He was 34 when he took office in Tennessee and 68 when he retired in Texas. In the interim, however, he had twice served as President of the Republic of Texas, so I'm not sure if in spirit he should count.
Jerry Brown, of course, has reinvented himself several times during the last 28 years, running for President a third time, serving two terms as Mayor of Oakland and one as state Attorney General, and also being state Democratic Party chair and a radio talk-show host.
Let's leave it at that for now and discuss issues later.
If elected, Brown, who will be 72 next month, will be the second Governor of California to serve a third term (the first was Earl Warren, who resigned during his third term to take some job in D.C.), and due to later-enacted but not retroactive term limits probably the last; and he would also be the oldest person ever elected to the office, though not at inauguration the oldest ever to serve. (That was Frank Merriam, who had just turned 74 when he left office in 1939, just after Jerry Brown was born.) When first elected, Brown was 36, the youngest Governor of California since the 1860s.
That's quite a spread, and so is the 28 years since he left office before. Is that some kind of national record? Surprisingly, it is not. California has never had a governor who served non-consecutive terms before, but 43 other states have (the other exceptions are HI, KS, NV, OR, UT, and WY), and three governors surpass him for length of break between service.
The record-holder is Cecil H. Underwood of West Virginia at 36 years (1957-61 and 1997-2001). He was 34 when he took office the first time and 78 when he left the last time. He ran for the job again a couple of times in the interim, but lost.
Next is James B. McCreary of Kentucky at 32 years and 3 months (1875-79 and 1911-15). He was 37 when he took office the first time and 77 when he left the last time. During the interim he served in both houses of Congress.
And then there's Sam Houston, who let 30 years and 8 months pass between his service as Governor of Tennessee (1827-29) and Governor of Texas (1859-61). He was 34 when he took office in Tennessee and 68 when he retired in Texas. In the interim, however, he had twice served as President of the Republic of Texas, so I'm not sure if in spirit he should count.
Jerry Brown, of course, has reinvented himself several times during the last 28 years, running for President a third time, serving two terms as Mayor of Oakland and one as state Attorney General, and also being state Democratic Party chair and a radio talk-show host.
Let's leave it at that for now and discuss issues later.
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Date: 2010-03-02 02:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-02 05:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-02 07:50 pm (UTC)