Olympic gold medalist and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner added her name to the Republicans seeking to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in a likely recall election.
“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,” she said on her campaign website. “Sacramento needs an honest leader with a clear vision.”
Jenner, 71, joins former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Rancho Santa Fe businessman John Cox and former Rep. Doug Ose in vying to succeed Newsom if a majority of California voters agree to a recall.
The California recall process asks voters to first decide whether to recall Newsom, and then who should succeed him. Republicans see the recall as a rare opportunity to win in an overwhelmingly Democratic state.
The Newsom campaign issued a statement saying Jenner is “working closely with Donald Trump’s former presidential campaign manager” and criticized the “right-wing Republican recall.”
Jenner, who was assigned male at birth, won the men’s decathlon event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. She publicly came out as a trans woman in April 2015.
She is noteworthy for starring in the reality television series Keeping Up with the Kardashians and has become a trans rights activist.
A recall election in the fall is likely following submission of 2.1 million signatures in March. Only 1,495,709 valid signatures — 12% of the vote in the last gubernatorial election — are needed.
