Newsom’s Recall Is On. Here are the 45 Challengers (and the top 4)

California Governor– and French Laundry’s most recent headline-grabber– Gavin Newsom is officially being put up for a recall on September 14, as we covered previously.  His challenger?  An eye-popping 45 individual candidates for office.

Unlike normal races, this won’t stand to “Split the Vote”, as the recall will consist of two questions: First, do you think Newsom should be recalled?  If 50%+1 of the respondants say YES, then Newsom is gone.  The winner goes to the highest-vote-getter of the challenger list.  They may cannibalize each others votes, but it will not effect the recall action.  That is a binary conclusion.  If you support the recall, you should be happy there are so many candidates, as it will energize more voters to come out and vote “yes” to the recall.

The biggest character on the ballot is, of course, Gavin Newsom.  State law allows unlimited fundraising for recalled candidates (of course), so Newsom has taken several donations of $1m+.  His challengers are limited to $32,400 per person.  Newsom has raised north of $32,000,000.

Of the top contenders for his spot, we have:

• Caitlyn Jenner (who raised $360,000), a transgender reality TV personality and former Olympic athlete;
• Larry Elder (raised $708,000), a conservative talk show host (who tends to lean towards the Liberty side of the Republican Party);
• John Cox (raised $5,300,000 — $5,000,000 of it from himself), a businessman who lost to Newsom in 2018;
• Kevin Faulconer (who raised $933,000), the former mayor of San Diego.

So far, the buzz seems to be around Larry Elder.  Elder made news after the Secretary of State attempted to remove him from the ballot.  He sued and won, and is on the ballot.

But there are some notable wanna-be contenders who weren’t on the ballot, too.  They are:

• Richard Grenell, a Trump administration official
• Louis Marinelli, California secession advocate
• Mary Carey, adult film performer
• Major Williams, a man who bilked wealthy Newporters (and many others throughout the state) out of tons of cash, only to have spent it on limo rides and massive hotel bills.  He didn’t even bother filing paperwork, and only well after the closing date, made some ridiculous claims about being “Blocked Out”.  As someone who has filed to run for office, I can tell you, all the forms are online.  So unless he and everyone he knew was blocked from the internet, this simply doesn’t hold water.

Here’s the full list, below:

 

• Holly L. Baade
  Democratic
  Mother/Business Owner
• John R. Drake
  Democratic
  College Student
• Patrick Kilpatrick
  Democratic
  Actor/Screenwriter/Producer
• Jacqueline McGowan
  Democratic
  Cannabis Policy Advisor
• Kevin Paffrath
  Democratic
  Financial Educator/Analyst
• Armando “Mando” Perez-Serrato
  Democratic
  No Ballot Designation
• Brandon M. Ross
  Democratic
  Physician/Attorney
• Joel Ventresca
  Democratic
  Retired Airport Analyst
• Daniel Watts
  Democratic
  Free Speech Lawyer
• David Alexander Bramante
  Republican
  Realtor/Multifamily Developer
• John Cox
  Republican
  Businessman/Accountant/Father
• Larry A. Elder
  Republican
  Broadcaster/Author
• Kevin L. Faulconer
  Republican
  Businessman/Educator
• Rhonda Furin
  Republican
  Nonprofit President
• Ted Gaines
  Republican
  Board of Equalization Member
• Sam L. Gallucci
  Republican
  Pastor/CEO/Consultant
• David Hillberg
  Republican
  Aircraft Mechanic/Actor
• Caitlyn Jenner
  Republican
  Businessperson/Entrepreneur
• Kevin Kiley
  Republican
  California Legislator
• Chauncey “Slim” Killens
  Republican
  Retired Correctional Officer
• Jenny Rae Le Roux
  Republican
  Business Owner/Mother
• Steve Chavez Lodge
  Republican
  Retired Homicide Detective
• David Lozano
  Republican
  Executive Officer/Attorney
• Diego Martinez
  Republican
  Businessman
• Daniel Mercuri
  Republican
  Father/Business Owner
• Robert C. Newman II
  Republican
  Farmer/Psychologist
• Doug Ose
  Republican
  Farmer/Small Businessman
• Sarah Stephens
  Republican
  Pastor
• Denver Stoner
  Republican
  Deputy Sheriff
• Joe M. Symmon
  Republican
  Community Volunteer
• Anthony Trimino
  Republican
  Entrepreneur/CEO
• Nickolas Wildstar
  Republican
  Musician/Entrepreneur/Father
• Leo S. Zacky
  Republican
  Businessman/Farmer
• Heather Collins
  Green
  Business Owner/Hairstylist
• Dan Kapelovitz
  Green
  Criminal Defense Attorney
• Jeff Hewitt
  Libertarian
  Riverside County Supervisor
• Angelyne
  No Party Preference
  Entertainer
• James G. Hanink
  No Party Preference
  Retired Educator
• Kevin K. Kaul
  No Party Preference
  Real Estate Developer
• Michael Loebs
  No Party Preference
  University Lecturer
• Denis Lucey
  No Party Preference
  Teacher
• Jeremiah “Jeremy” Marciniak
  No Party Preference
  No Ballot Designation
• David Moore
  No Party Preference
  Public School Teacher
• Adam Papagan
  No Party Preference
  Entertainer
• Dennis Richter
  No Party Preference
  Retail Store Worker
• Major Singh
  No Party Preference
  Software Engineer

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