Jerry Brown's former chief of staff is out shaking the money tree for his old boss.
Of course, that's only of note because Brown's ex-chief of staff also happens to be an ex-governor: Gray Davis.
Davis sent a note last week inviting donors to a reception he is hosting at his home for Brown this Tuesday.
"Jerry has done a great job as California's attorney general," Davis wrote to invitees. "Please join us in supporting his re-election campaign."
Donors are asked to give from $2,000 to the legal maximum of $12,000.
Officially, the money raised must go toward Brown's reelection campaign for attorney general.
But Brown, who served two terms as governor before term limits were in place, is making noise about running for the state's top office again. And any funds he raises for his reelection campaign can easily be transferred to a run for governor. Brown has already stripped his 2010 campaign account title of any reference to attorney general. It's simply "Jerry Brown 2010."
Former Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown reported this encounter with Brown over the weekend:
Finally I asked Jerry, "Are you really deadly serious about running for governor?"
"I am, I am," he said.
So is Davis signaling what side he intends to take in the 2010 gubernatorial primary? Not clear, as Davis did not return a call for comment.
Gray and Sharon Davis are co-hosting the reception with three other Southern Californians: Dan Weinstein, the co-founder of Wetherly Capital Group whom Davis appointed to the California State University Board of Trustees, William Chadwick, the multimillionaire managing director of Chadwick Saylor & Co who put his Malibu home up for sale for $65 million earlier this year, and William McMorrow, the CEO of the real estate investment firm Kennedy Wilson.
Photo: California's current and past governors gathered in 2004 to oppose Proposition 66, a Three Strikes reform measure. From left to right: Pete Wilson, Jerry Brown, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gray Davis. Credit: AP Photo/ Damian Dovarganes
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