<p>Brown, 71, is currently California attorney general and is not expected to face a serious opposition to become the Democratic candidate to take the top job in the most populous and most economically important state in the US.<br /><br />Brown previously served two terms as governor, succeeding Ronald Reagan from 1975-83, as well as running for the presidency three times.<br /><br />Schwarzenegger is due to step down after seven years in office, leaving the state he pledged to repair financially with a $20-billion deficit, a paralyzed political system and 12-percent unemployment.<br /><br />"Our state is in serious trouble, and the next governor must have the preparation and the know-how and the knowledge to get the state working again," Brown said Tuesday in a web video announcing his candidacy. "That's what I offer."<br /><br />Brown took a dig at Schwarzenegger, saying that the state had a bad experience with a political outsider in the top job: "We tried that and it doesn't work."<br /><br />The two leading Republican hopefuls, technology millionaires Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner, both mocked Brown's track record.<br /><br />"Californians are looking for a leader who can deliver the results," Whitman's campaign said in a statement, "not just continue to make promises decade after decade".<br />"This election will be about the future of California," the Poizner campaign said, "not the past".</p>
<p>Brown, 71, is currently California attorney general and is not expected to face a serious opposition to become the Democratic candidate to take the top job in the most populous and most economically important state in the US.<br /><br />Brown previously served two terms as governor, succeeding Ronald Reagan from 1975-83, as well as running for the presidency three times.<br /><br />Schwarzenegger is due to step down after seven years in office, leaving the state he pledged to repair financially with a $20-billion deficit, a paralyzed political system and 12-percent unemployment.<br /><br />"Our state is in serious trouble, and the next governor must have the preparation and the know-how and the knowledge to get the state working again," Brown said Tuesday in a web video announcing his candidacy. "That's what I offer."<br /><br />Brown took a dig at Schwarzenegger, saying that the state had a bad experience with a political outsider in the top job: "We tried that and it doesn't work."<br /><br />The two leading Republican hopefuls, technology millionaires Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner, both mocked Brown's track record.<br /><br />"Californians are looking for a leader who can deliver the results," Whitman's campaign said in a statement, "not just continue to make promises decade after decade".<br />"This election will be about the future of California," the Poizner campaign said, "not the past".</p>