The State - News from Nov. 23, 1988

Former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. has been asked by 31 state Democratic leaders to stay out of the race for chairman of the party in California, according to the manager of Menlo Park lawyer Steve Westly’s campaign for the post. Greg Larson released a letter that criticized Brown for ignoring party affairs and for projecting an image harmful to the party. The 50-year-old Brown was also criticized for renting an apartment in Northern California to qualify under party rules to run for the job this year. The letter, reportedly signed by 16 of the party’s 80 Assembly district committee chairmen and by 15 of the 58 county central committee chairmen, declared: “Our party has enough work to do without trying to explain why you have come back to lead the party you once shunned.” Most of the signers were from Northern California. There was no comment from Brown.