Caitlyn Jenner running for California governor

WASHINGTON — Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon turned reality TV star and transgender activist, is officially running for governor in California.

Jenner, a Republican, announced Friday: “I’m in!” She said she has filed paperwork to run for governor but won’t make a “formal announcement” until “the coming weeks.”

In a press release, Jenner sharply criticized Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is facing an almost-certain recall election in the coming months, as well as Democrats in the state legislature.

“California has been my home for nearly 50 years,” Jenner said in the statement. “I came here because I knew that anyone, regardless of their background or station in life, could turn their dreams into reality. But 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’s Friday announcement was first reported by Axios.

While the recall election has not yet been scheduled, organizers say they submitted hundreds of thousands of signatures more than the minimum needed to force a special election prior to the 2022 midterms, when Newsom was planning to seek a second term.

Jenner is getting aid from a network of former President Donald Trump’s staffers and consultants. POLITICO has reported that she has been talking with former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale and Tony Fabrizio, the former president’s pollster. Axios reported Friday that Steven Cheung, who served as a senior communications adviser for Trump’s unsuccessful reelection campaign, will also join the Jenner effort.

But Jenner’s initial statement did not echo many of the top priorities of the former president, who won only 34 percent of the vote in California in the 2020 election.

Instead, Jenner called herself “a compassionate disruptor throughout [her] life” and framed her campaign around a post-Covid economic recovery.

“Small businesses have been devastated because of the over-restrictive lockdown,” she said in the statement. “An entire generation of children have lost a year of education and have been prevented from going back to school, participating in activities, or socializing with their friends. Taxes are too high, killing jobs, hurting families, and putting an especially heavy burden on our most vulnerable people.”

Still, Jenner will face significant obstacles to winning election as a Republican. If, as expected, the recall is approved, voters will face a ballot with two questions: whether to remove Newsom from office, and who should replace him. While Jenner’s wealth and celebrity — and a crowded field that could yield a winner with only a plurality of the vote — could help her stand out, the ballot of potential Newsom replacements would only matter if a majority of recall voters chose to remove Newsom on the first question.

According to polls, the governor is currently well-positioned to fight off the effort. A Public Policy Institute of California poll released last month showed just 40 percent of likely voters would choose to remove Newsom before the end of his term, while 56 percent would vote “no” on the recall.

Jenner is not the only Republican to jump in for the likely recall. Businessman John Cox, whom Newsom defeated easily in 2018, is running again, and former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer is also in the race.

California is home to the most recent successful recall of a sitting governor: In 2003, voters removed then-Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and replaced him with actor and bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican. That year, more than 100 candidates qualified for the ballot, including some minor celebrities.