Gov. Jerry Brown reported Monday that he has nearly $24 million left for his re-election campaign after spending very little so far this year, and he has another $6.6 million in a committee that is supporting two legislative ballot measures.
In a report filed with the secretary of state's office, the Democratic governor says he has $23.6 million in the bank and has spent just $402,000 this year.
The spending included about $36,000 in returned contributions between July 1 and Sept. 30. Brown spokesman Dan Newman did not immediately return a call seeking details about the returned money.
Brown's largest expenses were for campaign consultants. He is not outwardly campaigning for his re-election, instead focusing his efforts on a pair of ballot measures he is promoting: Proposition 1, which would spend $7.5 billion on a variety of water projects; and Proposition 2, which would strengthen California's rainy day fund.
The committee for both reported having $6.6 million on hand Monday. Among its largest donations are $3.8 million from the California Teachers Association and $1 million each from the Service Employees International Union and former Facebook president and Napster co-founder Sean Parker.
Brown's Republican opponent in the governor's race, Neel Kashkari, had not yet reported his fundraising and spending totals. Kashkari reported in June that he had about $200,000 remaining after a tough primary election contest in which his campaign spent $4.4 million, including $2 million of Kashkari's own money. He has raised about $1 million since then.
Campaign committees have until midnight Monday to report their fundraising and spending for the period covering July 1 to Sept. 30.
That includes several contested races for statewide office, such as the challenge to incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson from a fellow Democrat, school reformer Marshall Tuck. That race is the only statewide contest this year to draw outside spending, with teachers unions spending millions on advertising to support Torlakson.
