With Larry Elder’s announcement to run for governor, many Californians breathed a huge sigh of relief. What was needed was a standard bearer for issues: someone who is credible, reasonable, libertarian (the sweet spot median of the state) and a longstanding history with the Californian people. Only that type of candidate is palatable to California voters. And I’m not just thinking for the short term win of this recall election but someone that can get re-elected in one year. Larry Elder fits all the criteria for a long-shot underdog victory and sustainable governance.
In my call for Larry Elder to run for governor on CityWatchLA, days before his official announcement, which the Sage of South Central himself read on-air before his final show, I listed many reasons and issues in detail about why Californians are clamoring for new leadership.
Briefly, this includes:
- The declining quality of education evidenced by increased homeschooling (after parents watched the low quality of public school teaching for a year during COVID lockdowns).
- Increased homelessness that has turned downtown LA into a war zone and many suburban cities dealing with increased crime.
- Increased crime, with a trend towards increased leniency for criminal offenders and ignoring of victims’ families and survivors. LA County is set to recall liberal DA George Gascon (http://www.recallgasconnow.com)
- Struggling businesses, especially restaurants, who have been bullied with fines from health departments, while dealing with yo-yo-ing executive orders: one second, you can stay open with expensive outdoor dining accommodations, the next, you have to be closed, and your food goes to waste.
- Crippling regulations like AB5 preventing freelancers from making a living and having the flexibility to care for children or an elderly loved one, while making some supplemental income.
- Hypocrisy during lockdown by Governor Newsom, maskless dining and throwing private elite parties while the rest of the state has to shut down business and mask up.
- Shady deals with China by Newsom, paying for overpriced masks with taxpayer dollars
- Newsom personally vilifying anyone with good faith disagreements as “right wing extremists”
California, under supermajority Democrat rule, continues to defy common sense, focusing on culturally controversial abortion and transgender issues to vilify Republicans, while dropping the ball on all angles of basic governance. Many nonpartisans and even Democrats are waking up to these distractions.
Since Larry’s announcement, the media has given Caitlyn Jenner probably ten times the coverage Larry got. The media is completely out of touch with the people on the ground, which is where I have a unique perspective, interfacing with the “rank and file”.
Dealing with the everyday people, I see a unique grassroots excitement for Larry, based on his longtime track record with conservatives, a beloved figure. As a libertarian who hasn’t been baited on many cultural issues, choosing a “live and let live” approach, he is loved by many moderates and liberals who respect him for focusing on solutions.
The state’s winds are changing. This is a less partisan election, down to Newsom not being listed on the ballot as a Democrat, unfortunate for the sitting Governor, but symbolic as it highlights his arrogance. He sued his own Secretary of State, Shirley Weber, but a judge shot down his request to circumvent the rules and disregard the deadlines he missed to list his party on the recall ballot.
The structure of the ballot and recall elections also gives Larry an inherent advantage. There will be two questions: the first, a “yes or no” on recall and the second, a list of the hundred or so candidates. No matter how low the percentage on the second question, it is the top vote-getter that becomes the next governor, even if he or she wins with a small plurality of the overall vote, say, 18 percent. As of this posting, Larry Elder is seen as such a threat by the Democrats that they threw out his filing over new technicalities on tax returns, a law to prevent Donald Trump from even being on a ballot, which the California Supreme Court threw out but held in place for state elections. Stay tuned as Larry is fighting this in court.
With 7 weeks to go, it is only the most well known candidates that will get significant votes. With that, there are only two that are known to a broad base: Caitlyn Jenner and Larry Elder. Jenner has her issues with many everyday people and this has been proven in lackluster fundraising. Her media attention is disproportionate to the actual on-the-ground results. Many don’t mind how she presents herself, but are concerned about her shallowness on the issues.
Meanwhile, Elder’s candidacy excites the Republican base, many Independents and some Democrats. As a clean candidate, he is the one who can transcend to bring conservative and libertarian solutions for common sense Californians. Larry is a policy wonk and he has three decades of thoughtful grappling with the issues on record. Now people are excited to see him put this in action, from ending ridiculous de-funding of the police, deregulating Eco-extremism while still conserving our environment and allowing for building new homes, injecting common sense and non-ideological commission members, ending mandates that defy “my body, my choice”, ending unnecessary lockdowns and stop the divisive racist Critical Race Theory in our education framework.
Larry crosses racial lines and moves messages in this majority-minority state – fresh and transformational. His humble beginnings illustrate American success as his father worked as a janitor for Nabisco before becoming a cafe owner. Larry put himself through school with an Ivy League pedigree from Brown and a JD from U-Mich.
If the Republicans were able to defy all odds and qualify 2.2 million signatures, way past the 1.5 million threshold, and trigger this election on September 14, 2021, I would not be surprised if this significant sample, a third of which are Democrats, were not willing to cross partisan lines to vote a reasonable, solutions-focused Republican like Larry. Quality matters. To help, donate or just reach Larry Elder’s Facebook Campaign Page, click here.
Larry is the type of transformational figure who could turn around a nation if he wins. California, with about 1/10 of our US population, is a trend setter and, in 2020, Californians saw trends towards leftism stop in its tracks as we shot down all liberal ballot propositions and Trump exceeded his 2016 tally. The hardest part is turning the ship.
Now, Larry can and will do good for common sense conservative governance. The shockwaves will be felt across the nation and inspire other cities and states because Larry understands the inner city, is principled to actually solve the problems Democrats have been exacerbating for decades, and Larry is dedicated to proven principles that work.
The moment has met its time.
Marc Ang (marc@aib2b.org) is the President of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance in Orange County, a community organizer in Southern California and the founder of AsianIndustryB2B who specializes in race relations and the minority conservative experience. His book “Minority Retort” will be released in late 2021.
Perhaps you forgot to mention that Larry Elder is an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump, frequently praising him on Twitter. He was an early supporter of Trump’s 2016 candidacy for president. In 2019, speaking to an audience about the election of Trump, Elder said, “It was a miracle. He is almost God-sent.” After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and Donald Trump made false claims of fraud while refusing to concede, Elder said that he did not believe that Biden won the 2020 election fairly. Elder has argued that it is unfair to blame Trump for the January 2021 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. n his 2000 book, The Ten Things You Can’t Say In America, Elder laid out a 10-point plan to “save America”. He called for abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, creating a national sales tax, reducing government by 80%, ending welfare and entitlements, abolishing the minimum wage, and eliminating corporate taxes. PolitiFact rated his claim “Mostly False.” Elder has contended that “Women know less than men about political issues, economics, and current events” in reference to the results from a political study from the University of Pennsylvania; Elder argued the Democratic party was often successful with women because of their “emotionally driven, but often unsound policies.” stated that women who took part in the 2017 Women’s March were obese and unattractive; scoffed at premenstrual syndrome by saying PMS stands for “Punish My Spouse”,”endorsing pregnancy discrimination by employers; and claimed that statistics about domestic violence against women are exaggerated to promote feminism. Elder contends that employers should be allowed to discriminate in employment against women who plan to have children, and in his 2002 book he wrote that women who choose to have children are not “dedicated” to their jobs and suggested that they lacked a “commitment” to work. Elder reiterated these views in 2021, while he ran for governor, after fellow Republican candidate Kevin Faulconer criticized Elder’s views. Elder opposes abortion, calling it “murder.” He has argued that Roe v. Wade should be overturned, calling the decision “one of the worst decisions that the Supreme Court ever handed down. Elder has a history of making anti-LGBT remarks on Twitter. He has repeatedly used male pronouns when referring to transgender women, such as Playboy model Ines Rau and fellow gubernatorial candidate Caitlyn Jenner, Elder’s website once described climate change as a “myth”; in a 2008 interview, he called climate change a “crock,” disparaged Republicans such as John McCain and George W. Bush, who acknowledged climate change, and said that global warming is not a “big peril” to planet Earth. In 2021, Elder pledged to remove current statewide public health mandates for state government workers in California, such as COVID-19 vaccine requirements, face mask requirements, or regular COVID-19 testing. Elder encouraged “people in high-risk categories, people who are older” to be vaccinated but said that “young people” do not need to be vaccinated. Elder defines himself as “an American who is Black”, rather than as an “African American”. He called systemic racism a lie, and blamed Black Lives Matter for rising crime. Elder’s former fiancée, Alexandra Datig, accused him of abuse. Datig, a longtime former radio producer for Elder, was engaged to Elder from 2013 until 2015. Datig said that Elder had demanded she show devotion by having “Larry’s Girl” tattooed on herself and, during an argument, brandished a gun in a threatening manner. After Datig’s allegations became public, The Sacramento Bee editorial board and fellow candidates Kevin Faulconer and Caitlyn Jenner called for Elder to withdraw from the race. Elder has denied Datig’s accusations. Elder said that he had twice been accused of sexual harassment, denying both allegations. In one case, Elder defended himself by implying that the woman was too unattractive for him to sexually harass, saying, “If you had seen her, you would know that the picture would be a complete defense. I’m just saying.” Perhaps Larry Elder might do better in Missouri or Oklahoma, but we really don’t need this crackpot running California. Is he interested in Asian-Americans? Of course, not. Get a grip on reality!