Jerry Brown to SF Mayor: Twitter This

ABC News’ Teddy Davis reports: When the California Supreme Court hears oral arguments Thursday in the Proposition 8 same-sex marriage case, Attorney Gen. Jerry Brown is promising to offer his two-cents to potential supporters via Twitter.

“If you check Jerry’s Facebook Page or Twitter feed during the session, he’ll be providing periodic comments,” the Attorney General’s wife, Anne Gust Brown, writes in a Wednesday evening e-mail to her husband’s political backers.

Brown’s decision to Twitter while oral arguments are taking place in the Prop. 8 case is his latest effort not to cede a technological edge to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, a top Democratic rival in the 2010 California governor’s race who is 29 years younger and has been highlighting the age disparity by telling reporters that he sat on Brown’s lap as a tyke.

Thursday’s Twittering is not Brown’s first move to combat Newsom. Previously, he joined a Facebook fad and posted “25 random things about me.” Brown’s list included this gem: “The first time I became Governor, I followed an Actor (Ronald Reagan),” a statement which conjured not only Brown’s 1974 election but also his hope of making the 2010 race to replace Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) the second time that Brown follows an actor into the governor’s office.

In his wife’s Wednesday e-mail to supporters announcing his Twitter plans, Brown does not disclose where he will be during oral argument. While California’s Supreme Court will hear from Senior Assistant Attorney General Chris Krueger, Brown spokesman Scott Gerber expects that the Attorney General himself will be watching oral arguments on television from his San Francisco office.

Newsom’s staff knows that the 70-year old Brown, a former two-term governor and three-time presidential candidate, is better known statewide. They are hoping, however, that the 41-year old Newsom can take a page from the playbook of President Obama’s 2008 cmapaign and use technology to topple his more seasoned rival.

The Brown-Newsom technological competition got started when Newsom launched a successful campaign to attract 30,000 Facebook friends in 30 days. Newsom also drew attention to his “tweets” when he announced via Twitter that his wife, actress Jennifer Siebel Newsom, is expectig a baby in September.

“We’re going to be talking a lot about the future,” Newsom told ABC News when he was in Washington for Obama’s inauguration. “Those who think they have this locked up are underestimating the capacity of the voters to have a real choice.”

The California Supreme Court is slated to hear oral arguments in the Prop. 8 case at 12:00 pm ET on Thursday. They can be viewed online at http://www.calchannel.com

Cruising to Re-Election, L.A. Mayor Eyes Guv Run

ABC News’ Teddy Davis reports: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is cruising to re-election on Tuesday but he is not making any promises about serving a full-four year term at City Hall.

“I’m not going to make a promise I can’t keep,” Villaraigosa said in a recent interview with the Associated Press.

Villaraigosa, who has no major opponents, wants to get more than 50 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s city election so he can avoid a run-off on May 19.

As L.A.’s first Latino mayor since 1872, Villaraigosa has faced personal scandal (his wife left him after he had an affair with Spanish-language television journalist Mirthala Salinas) as well as major policy setbacks (his bid to take over the Los Angeles Unified School District was rejected by the courts).

And yet despite these factors, he has no significant opposition in his re-election bid.

The city’s major politicians are biding their time, looking to run for mayor in 2013 or perhaps even sooner if Villaraigosa succeeds in his expected run for governor.

Republican Rick Caruso, a wealthy businessman who developed LA’s “The Grove” and “Americana,” two popular commercial developments, thought about running for mayor but passed on the race.

Villaraigosa has 9 minor opponents, including David “Zuma Dogg” Saltsburg, a fixture at City Council meetings, who was questioned by police on Thursday on whether he made a death threat on the answering machine of Craig X. Rubin, a pastor who is also running for mayor.

If Villaraigosa decides to run for governor, he will join a crowded Democratic field which is expected to include Attorney General Jerry Brown, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and Lt. Gov. John Garamendi.

Republicans eyeing the California governor’s race include former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, state insurance commissioner Steve Poizner, former Rep. Tom Campbell, and Ventura County Supervisor Peter Foy.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is barred from running again by term limits.