Caitlyn Jenner filed paperwork to run for governor of California on Friday and rolled out a new website, confirming rumors that the transgender activist, reality TV star, and former Olympian intends to replace Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom in a possible recall election.
“California has been my home for nearly 50 years,” Jenner said in a statement. “I came here because I knew that anyone, regardless of their background or station in life, could turn their dreams into a 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 went on to list bona fides ranging from winning the gold medal at the Olympics to advancing equality for transgender people, adding, “I am a proven winner and the only outsider who can put an end to Gavin Newsom’s disastrous time as governor.”
Jenner highlighted high taxes and the consequences of the state’s “over-restrictive lockdown” as examples of Newsom’s failed leadership.
“This isn’t the California we know. This is Gavin Newsom’s California, where he orders us to stay home but goes out to dinner with his lobbyist friends,” said Jenner, referencing Newsom getting caught dining with friends indoors without masks at The French Laundry, an opulent Napa Valley restaurant that charges $1,200 per person for a white truffle and caviar dinner.
I’m in! California is worth fighting for. Visit https://t.co/a1SfOAMZQ3 to follow or donate today. #RecallNewsom pic.twitter.com/9yCck3KK4D
— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) April 23, 2021
Jenner is tapping a team of GOP operatives, some of whom worked on the campaigns of former President Donald Trump, whom Jenner at first supported. According to Axios, Jenner’s team includes “Tony Fabrizio, the top pollster on Donald Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns, Ryan Erwin, founder of RedRock Strategies, and Tyler Deaton, president of Allegiance Strategies.”
Also helping out the Jenner campaign are Steven Cheung, who worked in the Trump White House as well as on former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign in 2003. Trump’s former campaign manager Brad Parscale, who is one of Jenner’s personal friends, helped assemble the team but will not be taking on an official title with the campaign.
Jenner had earlier denied rumors about mulling a gubernatorial run. “Caitlyn is not running for governor, has never considered running for governor and is very happy doing the work that she is doing to promote LGBT rights and spending time with her 18 grandchildren and 10 children,” Jenner’s manager said in a statement to Politico in February.
As The Daily Wire reported:
According to Politico, Republicans in California and Washington have been speculating that Jenner would be a formidable opponent for Newsom if the recall election made it to the ballot. Jenner previously floated a run against California Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) for the 2018 midterm elections, telling talk radio host John Catsimatidis in an interview that politics “has always been very intriguing to me,” reported The Washington Post.
“Over the next six months or so, I’ve got to find out where I can do a better job,” remarked Jenner. “Can I do a better job from the outside, kind of working the perimeter of the political side, being open to talk to anybody? Or are you better off from the inside? We are in the process of determining that. Yeah, but I would look for a senatorial run.”