Photograph: Marcio Jos Snchez/AP
Larry Elder is the confounding frontrunner for the Republican nomination to replace Gavin Newsom in California as governor.
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This outspoken radio talkshow host and libertarian radio host joined the recall campaign days before the deadline. He is now at the top of a long-list of candidates against the Democratic governor of the state, possibly both because and in spite of his divisive, contrarian political views.
Elder is against minimum wage and gun control. He said that he does not believe there is a gender wage gap and called the climate crisis a crock. He suggested that crime rates in Black communities are driven up by fatherless families. Elder is a well-known name in the disseminating of controversy over his three decades on air.
His extreme views are not only contrary to the majority of voters, but also against the views of many states Republicans. It is possible that the self-proclaimed sage of South Central will be the next governor in one of America's bluest state.
Reputation as a right-wing contrarian
Elder, now 69, was raised in South Central Los Angeles. After graduating from Brown University, and the University of Michigan he worked as a lawyer for ten years before deciding to become a political pundit. He had his own show at KABC Los Angeles in early 1990s.
A group of LA residents organized in the 1990s a boycott of radio stations sponsors in protest of his opposition to affirmative action, the denial of systemic racism, and claims that Black leaders exaggerate the discrimination.
There were flyers that called him a White Mans Poster Boy. Some advertisers dropped Elder, but he prevailed. His show was syndicated and he began to build a large national radio audience. He made frequent appearances on Fox News, as well as cultivating his contrarian libertarianism.
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James Lance Taylor, a University of San Francisco political scientist, stated that he has been on the radio for 27+ years talking about man-bites dog politics. In some ways, he is Black and uses his race as a weapon.
Elder had earlier this year blamed Barack Obama and George Floyd for their deaths. He wrote that Obama should have encouraged citizens better to comply with police officers to avoid being shot.
He has provided a platform for Covid-19 conspiracy theorists including a physician who claimed that coronavirus vaccines are being pushed into minority communities to control population. Elder claims he was vaccinated, but he vows to repeal California's vaccine and mask requirements if elected governor.
Taylor stated that Larry Elder should not be taken seriously. We were able to recognize him and have a large microphone so he was thrust upon us.
Surprising polls
A face-off between Elder or Newsom in an electoral election would be extremely unlikely if it weren't for California's unique recall laws. Other than the $4,200 filing fee, there are no requirements for recall ballot participation. If Newsom is reelected by more than half the California voters, then the governor elect becomes the candidate with the most votes.
Elder does not need to win Newsom's support from the majority of voters to defeat him. A recent poll conducted by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and the Los Angeles Times found that 47% of likely voters support recalling Newsom, while 50% opposed it.
Gavin Newsom won the 2018 election with a larger share of the vote than any other Democrat. He is still very popular in California. Photograph: Santiago Mejia/AP
The second question regarding recall ballot asked who should replace the governor if there is more than 50% of voters voting to remove him from office. Most respondents said that they would not answer or were undecided. 18% said that they would choose Elder over John Cox, Kevin Faulconer (ex-San Diego mayor) and Kevin Kiley (state assemblyman).
Newsom was a popular governor, who won office with a higher share of the vote than any other Democrat in the state's history. If the recall succeeds, Newsom would be replaced by a fringe candidate whose extremist views don't even reach the majority of the Republican base. Taylor stated that it would be a shock to California politics.
The familiar voice to the right
Many Californians are reliving the 2016 Presidential Race between Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton. Many Elder's views and policies align with Trump's. He supported Trump's policy of migrant family separation and was a mentor to Stephen Miller, the architect of some the most anti-immigrant policies in the past administration. He repeatedly stated that Blacks are more likely to commit crime and violence than any other demographic group and repeated Trumpian statements that Latino immigrants were criminals.
He initially claimed that Biden had won the election squarely and fairly, but he now repeats election fraud conspiracy theories. Elder, taking cues form the former president has started to spread mistrust in the recall elections system.
Erika D Smith, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, wrote that the right-leaning radio hosts and his deliberate manipulation of statistics and truth to support his views on crime are especially problematic in light of the racial reckoning after the murder of George Floyd.
Smith said that his policies were so contrary to what most Californians believe.
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Corrin rankin, vice-chair of the California GOP Central Valley, stated that celebrity pundits' politics and policies were in many ways more aligned with national Republicans than California Republicans. The state party did not endorse Newsom's opponents and Rankin stated that she was staying neutral.
She pointed out that Elder's views, including his opposition to a minimum income, are not as aligned with the state's moderate Republican base. She said that Elder's announcement of his intention to run for governor surprised her, particularly since he has in the past denied any interest in running. Everyone was shocked, I believe.
Yet, Dan Schnur (a professor of politics at three California universities) said that Elders candidacy makes sense given Trump's celebrity and his convention-bending personality.
He said that he is a familiar face to many of the conservative voters who are supporting the recall. They trust him.
Elder could be elected the next governor if 50% of voters recall him, Schnur stated. Newsom's $45m treasure trove has only a tenth the amount of Elder's campaign funds, but $4.5m more than any Republican challengers.
Guardians requested an interview with Elders Campaign, but they were not able to respond.
Trump is even more extreme
Elder has provided a perfect foil for Newsom, who has attempted to portray the recall election as rightwing-oriented throughout the year. Newsom said that he is the most Trump-like of all the candidates to supporters last week at a campaign event. In many ways, I think he is even more extreme than Trump.
Although Elder may not win, many Democrats voters and legislators are concerned by the momentum Elder has built.
There is someone here who doesn't know how government works, stated Sydney Kamlager, a California state senator, vice-chair of California Legislative Black Caucus. This person does not care about the people's due process, their reproductive rights, or their civil rights.
Senator Sydney Kamlager, California: If Elder is elected governor, it will be an epic failure. Photograph: Rich Pedroncelli/AP
Kamlager said that Larry Elder's life has been sketchy. It would be an epic failure if he is elected governor.
California's Democratic supermajority could override or block many of the Governor Elder's actions. She said that the notion that an unprepared Elder could lead the most populous US State in the wake of the California pandemic and a deep economic crisis and drought is absurd.
I'm opposed to the governorship, and that is what I find deeply offensive.
Taylor stated that seeing a Trumpian rightwing candidate rise to the top of one of America's most progressive states would be a complete abandonment of California California. This is a state that has been seen as a challenge to Donald Trump's vision of America.
