With election nearing, Sutter Brown hits the campaign trail

Reporting from Sacramento —  Politicians love trotting out celebrities and powerful supporters to win over voters on the campaign trail. In California, the star is Gov. Jerry Brown’s dog.

Democrats are dispatching Sutter Brown, a Pembroke Welsh corgi, to help drum up support for candidates and ballot measures.

His first stop will be the local Democratic Party headquarters in Long Beach on Monday night.

Tenoch Flores, the communications director for California Democrats, unleashed a flurry of dog puns in a statement.

“This year, he’s lending a paw to our get-out-the-vote effort and putting in an extra bark for the water bond and rainy day fund,” he said.

Sutter is often at the governor’s side, and he has been spotted puttering around the Capitol or mingling with donors at fundraisers. He also made the rounds in 2012 when Brown was pushing Proposition 30, his temporary income and sales tax hike.

Neel Kashkari, Brown’s Republican opponent in the governor’s race, has two dogs of his own, Newfoundlands named Winslow and Newsome.

Their campaign plans remain unclear.

Follow @chrismegerian on Twitter for more updates from Sacramento.