CA Republican Party To Endorse A Recall Candidate This Week

CALIFORNIA — California Republicans will convene virtually this week to officially endorse a front-runner in the upcoming gubernatorial recall election as they try to unite voters around a single candidate opposing Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The party this week selected four high-profile candidates for it to consider when it convenes Saturday.

The state party approved the process on July 24 to streamline and restructure the list of 46 candidates vying for the governor's seat, despite criticism from some candidates.

California Republicans focused on four prominent candidates from among the 24 GOP contenders: talk show host Larry Elder, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley and former U.S. Rep. Doug Ose.

"Today, the California Republican Party put a process in place that will empower our delegates to determine if the party will offer an endorsement in the upcoming recall election of the worst governor in California history, Gavin Newsom," party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said. "I have consistently called for a fair, transparent process that would allow our party to go into the recall election united and strong with a decision to endorse a candidate or a decision not to endorse."

To win the endorsement, one of the four selected candidates must receive 60 percent of the vote by party delegates this Saturday. If no one does, the party will not make an endorsement.

The selection is important because it could open up party spending for the winning candidate, the Public Policy Institute of California reported.

"Parties want to win, so they tend to back winners," according to a report from PPIC. "If the endorsed candidate has more experience, connections, money, and/or sheer political talent than the other(s), those things might drive the result rather than the endorsement itself. Parties would be 'cheerleaders' rather than 'kingmakers.'"

Caitlyn Jenner, arguably Newsom's most famous challenger, was not one of the four finalists identified by the state party. She did appear on the official candidate list certified by the secretary of state last month. Jenner reportedly flew to Australia last month, where she planned to stay for weeks to film a reality TV show, despite the nearing September election date.

RECALL CANDIDATE PROFILE: Doug Ose Aims To Fix Sacramento Without The 'Gimmicks'

Businessman John Cox — the only candidate campaigning with a live bear — also was not one of the finalists. He previously took to Twitter to decry the California GOP's move to endorse a candidate, arguing that the state GOP was trying to sway voters toward the more moderate Faulconer.

"Changing the rules at this point is a slap in the face to the grassroots activists who made this recall happen," Cox tweeted on July 23. "It wasn’t the @CAGOP insiders who gathered the signatures, who knocked on the doors. It was the grassroots. Today, I stand with them and NOT the political insiders," he said, further framing the move as "trickery" and "political scheming."

Faulconer, Cox, Kiley and Ose were set to appear in a gubernatorial debate hosted by FOX 11 at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda on Wednesday. Newsom, Jenner and Elder were also invited to participate, the station reported.

Ballots for the Sept. 14 election will start arriving in mailboxes around the Golden State later this month. Voters will be asked whether Newsom should be recalled and who should replace him. If more than 50 percent of voters cast a ballot to recall Newsom, the replacement candidate with the largest share of votes will win the governor's seat.

The recall sprouted in February 2020 before the pandemic severely upended life in California. The effort gained significant traction after Newsom was seen dining at Napa Valley's French Laundry restaurant with top health brass and lobbyists during the same week he told Californians to stay home.

"California voters have an opportunity to put our state back on track," Patterson has said. "They are sick and tired of facing surging crime, record levels of homelessness and poverty, sky-high taxes, unaffordable housing and soaring unemployment."

Recall supporters have argued that Newsom's response to the pandemic was disastrous for businesses and that his leadership revealed serious fissures within the state's crime rates, homelessness and unemployment agency after an audit found widespread fraud.

Newsom has pushed back against the effort to oust him from office, painting the campaign as one backed by extremists, supporters of former President Donald Trump and those against the coronavirus vaccines.

"This is — and forgive me — a Republican-backed recall where the principal proponent of the recall effort wants to microchip immigrants," Newsom has said. "These folks don't believe in science let alone climate science, and they don't believe in the science behind this pandemic. There's a lot at stake for Californians in this race."

Two Republican activists and supporters of the recall election to oust Newsom filed a lawsuit Friday to block Newsom from branding the election as a Republican effort, KTLA reported. The case will be heard in court on Wednesday afternoon.

What's A Recall?

California has had recall elections as part of its political system since 1911. The process allows the public to attempt to remove an elected public official from office before the end of his or her term. Before a recall election can be initiated, a certain number of voters must sign a recall petition within a specified amount of time.

The state has had 54 previous attempts to recall California governors. Only one governor was recalled in California's history: Gray Davis in 2003.

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