SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown has found an unlikely new best friend in his efforts to work with Republicans and fix California’s budget mess.
Brown and first lady Anne Gust Brown officially welcomed Sutter, a 7-year-old Welsh corgi, as the state’s top dog this week. The stocky, sable- colored canine has accompanied California’s first couple to work at the state Capitol every day.
The dog’s scratch-me-on-the-belly playfulness has disarmed even the governor’s most persistent political foes during sometimes-testy discussions over how to close the state’s $27 billion deficit. Brown, a Democrat, will take all the help he can get.
“Sutter and I have developed a relationship,” said Senate Republican Leader Bob Dutton, a legislative leader with whom Brown has to negotiate on the state budget. “I met him down at the governor’s conference room. As we got to talking, I noticed there was a fur ball under my seat. He was very calm, laying there, sleeping. I think he was looking at me to be a protector of the taxpayers’ dollars.”
The first dog even has embraced social media, with supporters creating a Facebook page for him. On it, Sutter’s religious view is described as Zen Jesuit, “although I am not burdened with dogma (but I do like dog bones).”
