Larry Elder Throws His Hat in the Ring for California Governor
Conservative talk show host Larry Elder announced Monday that he is running for governor of California in the state’s Sept. 14 recall election.
The 69-year-old media personality was to formally launch his campaign outside the Los Angeles County Registrar on Tuesday after he finished the necessary paperwork to sign up as a candidate, a news release on his campaign website said.
“I’m running for governor because the decline of California isn’t the fault of its people,” Elder said in a statement.
“Our government is what’s ruining the Golden State. Our schools are closed to both students and their parents. Our streets aren’t safe from rising violent crime or the disaster of rising homelessness. And the scandals of Sacramento aren’t going to stop on their own.
“It’s time to tell the truth. We’ve got a state to save.”
Elder’s entry brings a well-known conservative figure into the recall election, where Republicans seek to replace incumbent Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
He will be running along with several other GOP candidates, including former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, businessman John Cox, California state Assemblyman Kevin Kiley and former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner.
Elder had mentioned a possible run in an Op-Ed published on The Western Journal on Wednesday.
He began the piece on school choice by saying, “Question my sanity, but I’m considering running in this election to recall California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.”
The regular Fox News guest told The Associated Press that he was hesitant to enter the gubernatorial race, noting that California is a state where Democrats have a major power grip. However, many of his supporters, including fellow conservative talk show host Dennis Prager, encouraged him to compete in the elections, Elder said.
He told the outlet that he decided to enter what will be his first election campaign after noticing California’s pressing issues: a spiraling homelessness crisis, rising crime rates, the state’s “whipsaw” lockdowns and the threat of imminent water and power shortages.
“I have common sense. I have good judgment. I’m born and raised here. I think I understand the state,” he told the AP.
A “fire in the belly to see if I can do something … to move the needle in the right direction” is the force driving him, Elder said. “I know it’s a long shot.”
A black man in a white-dominated party, Elder told the AP that the reality of the gubernatorial race drastically differs from Newsom’s claims that the move to recall him is an “effort led by (former President Donald) Trump white nationalists.”
“Do I look like a white nationalist?” Elder said.
https://t.co/mnvU6rOkTD#WeveGotAStateToSave pic.twitter.com/bQvoEMHQ7D
— Larry Elder (@larryelder) July 13, 2021
A nationally syndicated radio host and newspaper columnist, bestselling author, award-winning documentary filmmaker and attorney, Elder is considered to be one of the most popular American media personalities.
His flagship “The Larry Elder Show” airs every weekday on more than 300 stations across the country. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Brown University and a juris doctorate from the University of Michigan School of Law.
According to a biography on his radio show’s website, Elder believes in “returning to the bedrock Constitutional principles of limited government and maximum personal responsibility.”
He views the Constitution as “a contract that restrains the federal government, leaving everything else to the states and to the people.”
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