Brown wins 4th term as gov.

Bucking a national Republican trend, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown easily won re-election tonight, with early returns indicating a 58-42 win over Neel Kashkari. If the numbers hold, that would top his 53-41 victory over Meg Whitman in 2010, when Third Party candidates grabbed 6 percent. The new Top Two system precludes any candidates than the two on the ballot.

Analysts are saying Kashkari’s candidacy showed how “moderates” were taking over the Republican Party. For example, the Sacramento Bee reported tonight:

“his advancement was viewed by many Republicans as a hopeful sign of the ideological direction of the party. Many members of the GOP’s professional and political classes believed Kashkari, a moderate who supports same-sex marriage, abortion rights and a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants, could boost the party’s efforts to appeal to young voters and minorities.”

But Whitman held the same positions, yet still lost big — despite spending $180 million of her own money.

And for that matter, Arnold Schwarzenegger held similar views. Although he won two elections, the denouement of his administration in 2010, with record $13 billion in tax increases and $20 billion deficits, along with personal and other scandals, would preclude him winning again — assuming term limits allowed him to run in the first place.

So the GOP still hasn’t figured out how to get back in the game of the Golden State.

Brown

Brown’s victory leaves him with large political capital in the state to advance his pet projects, including making environmental restrictions even tighter and building the $68 billion high-speed rail project.

Then there’s the siren call emanating from the Oval Office on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. 3,000 miles to the East.

But things may not go as well for Brown in his fourth and final term as governor as they have in his first three terms. If the national economy tanks, the deficits will come back with a vengeance. And the state’s pension problems just keep growing, his 2013 reform but a drop in a Pacific Ocean of unfunded liabilities.