Recall Candidate Doug Ose Exits Recall Race After Heart Attack

SACRAMENTO, CA — Former Rep. Doug Ose announced Tuesday that he has withdrawn his bid for governor after suffering a heart attack over the weekend.

"While at home on Sunday evening, I experienced the sudden onset of concerning medical symptoms," Ose said in a statement. "I immediately called 911 and was transported by ambulance to Mercy General Hospital where I was ultimately treated for a heart attack."

The news comes less than a month away from the recall race to unseat Gov. Gavin Newsom and about two weeks after Ose participated in the first and perhaps only gubernatorial recall election debate at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda.

Ose, 66, said he expected to make a full recovery, but he will likely need to undergo additional procedures and potentially surgery.

"It has become clear that I must now focus my attention on rehabilitation and healing," he said. "Sometimes you have to do things that you don't want to do. It is what is: my campaign for governor is over."

The multimillionaire served as a Republican congressman representing a slice of Sacramento from 1999 to 2005, which made him one of three recall candidates with any kind of political background.

Ose urged Californians on Tuesday to still vote "yes" on the ballot next month to "put an end to the current reign of corruption and hypocrisy."

READ MORE: CA Recall: Newsom Lambasts Elder On Campaign Trail

His platform was centered on reforming education and mending fissures he's seen in state government. Aside from his political tenure, Ose has also been growing acres of rice since 1985 with his sisters in Sacramento.

"My sisters and I grow 1,000 acres of rice," he told Patch in a previous interview. "So I understand water. I understand ag markets, and I understand the value of the dollar and currency exchange and who's using the rice that comes off my fields. ... If I'm going to be involved, I'm going to know it soup to nuts — that's what I do."

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.

"This is — and forgive me — a Republican-backed recall," Democrat Newsom has said, adding: "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."

Ballots for the Sept. 14 election will start arriving in mailboxes around the Golden State 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.

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