June 8, 2006
Tim Eberly
The Fresno Bee
Brown stumps through Fresno Oakland mayor in bid for attorney general post touts local police backing.
Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown touched down in Fresno on Wednesday to soak up support from the local police union, the day after winning the Democratic primary election for attorney general.
Brown, the former two-term governor of California and a three-time presidential candidate, said he wanted to make a statement by making a pit stop in the backyard of his opponent, Chuck Poochigian, the Republican state senator who calls Fresno home.
"I understand it will be difficult to win this county, but I will do everything I can," Brown said. "But having the Fresno police officers on my side is a major boost."
He held a news conference at the Fresno Police Officers Association headquarters north of downtown Fresno.
The FPOA, with more than 1,100 members, decided in January to endorse Brown over Poochigian with a 12-2 vote by its board of directors.
"I've got the experience, I've got the will and I've got the energy to back up local police," said Brown, 68. "The Fresno police are behind me because I'm behind them. And that's true for police up and down the state."
Tuesday night, Brown defeated Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo with 68% of the vote. He didn't take any time off before starting his campaign against Poochigian for the November election, leaving the Oakland airport at 7:30 a.m. for a full day of stops in Los Angeles, San Diego, Fresno, Sacramento, Bakersfield and then returning to Los Angeles for a dinner.
"I don't need any rest. I've been at this a long time," Brown said.
Brown said he got the FPOA's endorsement because of his close connection to those in law enforcement.
"I have a daily relationship with police people," he said. "Poochigian's a senator. He's been a staffer, a lawyer and then a legislator. Those are not positions where you have daily contact with cops on the beat."
Jacky Parks, president of the FPOA, said Brown sought out the union, asking for its endorsement. Brown came to Fresno for a 30-to-45-minute interview with the union's political action committee.
On the day of the interview, Poochigian got word that Brown had asked for the FPOA's endorsement and called the union, saying that he wanted it, too. But the senator couldn't clear his schedule to come to Fresno that day, Parks said.
"Basically, it was too late," Parks said. "He would have had to be there that day. ... I think he was disappointed, one, because we do consider him a friend of law enforcement and a friend of our association. And I think he was just disappointed that there was the missed opportunity there."
Still, Parks said the union considered Poochigian for the endorsement despite his inability to interview.
"We felt like, because he is the hometown guy, we owed him that, at least consider him in this, even though he didn't have the ability to speak."
But the FPOA gave the nod to Brown, in part because as governor he signed two major pieces of pro-police legislation into law, including the Peace Officers Bill of Rights.
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