down the Rumford Act in May, he voiced his support for the act's repeal, but later preferred amending it. In the Republican primary, Reagan defeated George Christopher, a moderate who William F. Buckley Jr. thought had framed Reagan as extreme. Reagan's general election opponent, Pat Brown, attempted to label Reagan as an extremist and tout his own accomplishments. Reagan portrayed himself as a political outsider, and charged Brown as responsible for the Watts riots and lenient on crime. Lou Cannon notes that the Free Speech Movement, high taxes, unrestrained spending, and lack of accountability were often considered issues in Reagan's campaign speeches. He also notes that Reagan benefited on television in comparison to the seemingly unpleasant governor. Meanwhile, the press continued to perceive Reagan as "monumentally ignorant of state issues". Ultimately, Reagan won the governorship in a landslide. California governorship (1967–1975) Brown spent much of California's funds on new projects, prompting them to use accrual accounting to avoid raising taxes. Consequently, it generated a larger deficit, and Reagan would call for reduced government spending and tax hikes to balance the budget. He left his fiscal responsibility principles behind to work with Jesse M. Unruh on securing tax increases and property tax cuts. As a result, taxes on sales, banks, corporate profits, inheritances, liquor, and cigarettes jumped. Kevin Starr states, Reagan "gave Californians the biggest tax hike in their history—and got away with it." In the 1970 gubernatorial election, Unruh used the property tax cuts and Reagan's tax relief requests against him for benefiting the wealthy. The strategy worked as Reagan would raise taxes once more. By 1973, the budget had a surplus, which Reagan preferred using "to give back to the people". Reagan reacted to the Black Panther Party's strategy of copwatching by signing the Mulford Act in 1967. The act prohibited the public carrying of loaded firearms. On May 2, before the act was passed, 26 Panthers were arrested after interrupting a debate on the bill in the California State Capitol. The act was California's most aggressive piece of gun control legislation, with critics saying that it was "overreaching the political activism of organizations". Hopeful that future handgun buyers would reconsider their own actions in the wake of the protest, Reagan approved additional legislation to establish a waiting period of fifteen days. Although the Panthers gained national attention, their membership barely grew. The act marked the beginning of both