Olympic hero, reality TV personality and transgender rights activists Caitlyn Jenner said Friday that she will run for governor of Califronia amid a campaign to recall current Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.
In a statement, Jenner called herself "a proven winner" and the only candidate "who can put an end to Gavin Newsom's disastrous time as governor."
"I'm in," Jenner wrote on her website. "For the past decade, we have seen the glimmer of the Golden State reduced by one-party rule that places politics over progress and special interests over people. Sacramento needs an honest leader with a clear vision."
Jenner, a Republican with ties to former president Donald Trump, will not get an endorsement from LGBTQ advocacy group Equality California, the nation's largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. The group said on Twitter Friday afternoon that supporting Jenner was a "hard pass."
"Make no mistake: we can't wait to elect a #trans governor of California. But Caitlyn Jenner spent years telling the LGBTQ+ community to trust Donald Trump. We saw how that turned out. Now she wants us to trust her?" the tweet said. "After Trump banned transgender troops from serving in the military, attacked transgender students and even tried to allow homeless shelters to turn away trans women, Caitlyn Jenner STILL hired his former inner circle to run her campaign."
Californians — and #trans Californians, in particular — understand all too well the risk of electing another reality TV star who cares more about fame and money than civil rights, healthcare and the safety of our communities.
— Equality California (@eqca) April 23, 2021
"Californians — and trans Californians, in particular — understand all too well the risk of electing another reality TV star who cares more about fame and money than civil rights, healthcare and the safety of our communities," Equality California continued. "We can't let that happen. Governor Gavin Newsom is a pro-equality champion who has spent his career fighting for LGBTQ+ civil rights and social justice."
For more reporting from The Associated Press, see below
Newsom, a first-term Democrat, is facing a likely recall election this year, though officials are still reviewing petition signatures required to qualify the proposal for the ballot. Several other Republicans have also announced plans to run.
The race had failed to attract a nationally known contender before the entrance of 71-year-old Jenner, who is widely known from shows "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" and the spin-off "I Am Cait." However, she brings an abundance of questions about her ability to potentially lead the nation's most populous state.
She is untested as a candidate and little is known about her positions on critical issues facing the state, from the coronavirus pandemic to managing the economy. Her ties to Trump are also a concern as the former president remains broadly unpopular in California outside his GOP base, as well as his former political operatives.
Still, with her name recognition and ability to attract publicity, she could overshadow other GOP contenders, including former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, former U.S. Rep. Doug Ose and businessman John Cox, who lost to Newsom in the 2018 governor's race.
It was notable that her announcement did not include a video, which is commonplace in political campaign kickoffs. Instead, in her written statement, she referred only vaguely to cutting taxes, a "roadmap back to prosperity" and taking on special interests.
Her campaign did not respond to a request for an on-camera interview.
She described herself as "economically conservative, socially progressive" in a People magazine interview last year.
Her run would come nearly two decades after the ascendancy of Arnold Schwarzenegger, another Republican who used his Hollywood fame as a springboard to California's highest office in a 2003 recall election.
If the recall qualifies for the ballot, as expected, voters would be asked two questions: first, whether Newsom should be removed from office. The second would be a list of replacement candidates to choose from, if more than 50% of voters support removing Newsom from office.
The effort largely has been fueled by criticism of Newsom's handling of the pandemic, which shuttered schools and closed thousands of businesses.
If the recall qualifies, Newsom would be forced to fend off rivals in the midst of a pandemic that has cost the state millions of jobs, cored government budgets and upended life for nearly 40 million residents.
He's also been hit by the fallout from a multibillion-dollar fraud scandal at the state unemployment agency while weathering a public shaming for dining out with friends and lobbyists at an exclusive San Francisco Bay Area restaurant last fall, while telling residents to stay home for safety.
However, recent polling has suggested Newsom would hold his seat, and the sour public mood could shift as more schools and businesses reopen. California also is likely to be the recipient of billions of dollars of federal recovery funds, which Newsom will dispense and could use to his political advantage.
Jenner made headlines in recent years with her ties to Trump, who lost to Joe Biden in the state in November by over 5 million votes.
Jenner supported Trump in 2016 but later criticized his administration's reversal of a directive on transgender access to public school bathrooms. She also criticized Trump after he said transgender people would not be allowed to serve in the U.S. military.
In a statement, Newsom campaign spokesman Dan Newman said, "We always knew the ... recall would be a ludicrous circus full of Trump supporters."
The team advising Jenner has included Trump's former campaign manager, Brad Parscale, and GOP fundraiser Caroline Wren, who worked for Trump's campaign.
