SACRAMENTO -- After casting his ballot near his Oakland home Tuesday morning, Gov. Jerry Brown and his wife, Anne, drove north to a 2,600-acre plot that Brown's family owns in Colusa County. That's where his great-grandfather staked out his homestead in the 19th century after traveling by covered wagon from the Midwest.

"I felt good about the election and looked forward to getting out in the fresh air," he told this newspaper.

That night, the governor's serenity turned to triumph when his tax initiative, Proposition 30, passed by an 8-point margin that no one thought possible just days before.

The new revenue meant that for the first time in almost a decade and a half, the state had truly balanced its budget. And for the first time in more than 120 years, Democrats on Tuesday captured two-thirds of both houses of the Legislature, freeing the Democratic governor to embark on a more visionary policy path that may determine his ultimate legacy.

"I'm very optimistic," Brown said. "We have quite a big agenda facing us."

It includes getting high-speed rail construction off the ground and building a massive water tunnel project in the Central Valley, while pushing for regulatory and education reform. He also is considering tax reform to veer the state away from relying so heavily on income taxes, which has made California so vulnerable to the fluctuations of the market.

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