Jerry Brown, California’s Democratic Attorney General, edged closer Tuesday to an official 2010 bid for governor — an office he previously held from 1975 to 1983.

Brown launched an exploratory campaign committee, a move that will allow him “to essentially quadruple the amount of campaign cash he can raise,” the Sacramento Bee reported. California state law, according to the paper, “caps individual donations to gubernatorial candidates at $25,900 per election vs. $6,500 for candidates to other statewide offices,” such as Brown’s current post as Attorney General.

While Brown has not confirmed he will ultimately run, his candidacy is widely assumed to be a certainty. He is seeking an open seat, as the state’s term-limit law bars Republican incumbent Arnold Schwarzenegger from running again.

Brown currently looks like the more promising of the Democrats’ likely candidates, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Sept. 24.

Brown led each of the three top Republicans vying for the seat: former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, and former Rep. Tom Campbell. Whitman came the closet to Brown, trailing by 44 percent to 35 percent.