"Certainly it's something I'm giving a lot of thought to," he said. In an interview, Brown showed a keen interest in the fundraising of his rivals, and cited the nearly $3 million in his own campaign account.
"Does Garamendi have a governor's account?" he asked. "There's not much activity there, is there?. . . . You notice Newsom has raised a little bit of money."
Brown cited the state prison crisis, charter schools and energy as key issues now. He said California had been at the forefront of renewable energy during his governorship, but since then conflicts between public and private utilities and a lack of transmission lines have impeded progress.
"I think a big opportunity is to promote alternative energy," Brown said. "The Silicon Valley has been investing billions."
Describing himself as "a student" of California, Brown said he had gained new insight from his previous tenure after a quarter-century of thought:
"I can see the unintended consequences of all these 10,000 laws that a governor puts in over the course of eight years."
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michael.rothfeld@latimes.com
Times staff writer Richard C. Paddock contributed to this report.
