Celebrity and former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner announced a bid for California governor early Friday as Gov. Gavin Newsom faces the threat of a recall election.
Jenner, a Republican and high-profile transgender advocate, has hinted at the potential run for weeks but confirmed in a statement Friday she had filed paperwork to solidify her campaign.
“California has been my home for nearly 50 years. I came here because I knew that anyone, regardless of their background or station in life, could turn their dreams into reality,” wrote Jenner, 71, on Twitter. “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.”
Jenner said that the strain on small businesses during California’s pandemic restrictions, as well as the loss of in-person education for children, had pushed her to run.
“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,” she wrote, an apparent reference to Newsom’s widely-publicized French Laundry dinner back in November.
Jenner first gained national recognition as a 1976 gold medal-winning Olympic decathlete, and later on the reality television show “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”
She wouldn’t be the first celebrity to made a bid for the governorship in a recall election; Austrian-American actor Arnold Schwarzenegger replaced Democrat Gray Davis during a recall in 2003.
If the Newsom recall qualifies for the ballot, as expected, voters would be asked two questions: first, whether Newsom should be removed from office. The second would be a list of replacement candidates to choose from, if more than 50% of voters support removing Newsom from office.
How California’s recall rules could spell trouble for Gavin Newsom
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Check back for updates.