I looked at this race and I thought, no one is leveling with the American people.

This government is broken. It’s been bought by corporations. I’ve spent decades fighting them and winning.

The second question: Would I challenge her?

Look, I’m planning on winning. I’m not thinking past this campaign.

So it sounds like you’re not categorically ruling out a Senate bid.

I’m not even commenting on it.

One of your major campaign promises has been to essentially expand California’s ballot proposition system. But I think here in California, the ballot initiative system has sometimes been seen as not very effective, or beholden to people who can pay to get things on the ballot.

What would you say to critics who blame it for Proposition 13 or Proposition 8, and the legal battle that followed?

I think if you look at California now, you will see that California went from being a broken government. If you go back 10 years, you could see a government that could not pay its workers. And how did it actually get back on its feet? And why do we have a functioning government in California?

Revenues are up is the actual reason. But there’s a combination of reasons for that.

One is the economy is doing better.

The other one is that Prop. 30, Prop. 39, Prop. 56 — two of which I led, one of which I supported — were all major revenue generators for the state of California. But they couldn’t get through the Legislature as bills.