You surely know some of the replacement candidates running in California's gubernatorial recall election next month.
Conservative talk radio host Larry Elder, who has recently said he wants to repeal all of the state’s COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates, is the frontrunner to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom if the governor is indeed recalled.
If you don’t know Caitlyn Jenner’s Olympic history, you know of her appearances in the Kardashian Cinematic Universe. If you don’t recognize John Cox from your 2018 gubernatorial ballot, you’ll recognize him as the guy with the bear.
Kevins Faulconer, Kiley and Paffrath have all enjoyed their moments in the media spotlight, too.
But what about the rest of the 46 candidates running to be the state’s next governor, and the only one not named Arnold Schwarzenegger to win in a recall? The group includes candidates with platforms focused on issues as far-ranging as California independence from the U.S., cannabis market reform and even 50% child custody rights for parents.
Here are a handful of other candidates, from across the ideological spectrum, whom you might be curious to learn more about.
There’s Angelyne, the only repeat candidate from the 2003 recall (she finished 29th) and the only current one to go solely by their first name. The 70-year-old Beverly Hills resident’s candidate statement simply reads "Billboard Queen. Icon. Experienced politician." She first rose to prominence posing in lingerie on a series of billboards around Los Angeles advertising herself in 1984. Her platform calls for an annual masquerade ball for state residents to "dress like a governor," however they define it.
John R. Drake was 3 years old when Angelyne lost her bid to recall then-Gov. Gray Davis, and the 20-year-old is the youngest of the certified candidates. Drake was born in Riga, Latvia, now lives in Ventura and recently graduated from Ventura Community College with a political science degree. Running as a Democrat, Drake told the San Diego Union-Tribune he doesn’t support recalling Newsom, but the governor "should be replaced with a progressive who represents the interests of the disadvantaged, the minority and the youth" if he is recalled.
Green Party candidate Dan Kapelovitz doesn't support the recall, either, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it from his candidate statement, which simply asks, "Can you dig it?" Kapelovitz’s campaign website is far more expansive, arguing the criminal justice lawyer is "the progressive candidate most able to win," "govern effectively" and "pursue a reform agenda." Among those reforms are ending mass incarceration and the death penalty, except when the latter can be used on "incorrigible corporations who are legally deemed 'persons.' "
Meanwhile, Republican Nickolas Wildstar said on his campaign website he "would work towards eliminating business licensing fees" and "the need for occupational licenses" while also lowering taxes in an effort to bring businesses back to California. The Fresno native and self-proclaimed Libertarian also wants to create a Bank of California that "would accept any and all currencies," form a publicly owned utility focused on renewable energy to help the state wean off of PG&E and SoCal Edson and instruct Attorney General Rob Bonta to issue an arrest warrant for Newsom for committing "crimes against humanity" on the first day of Wildstar's term.
The fifth and final candidate we’ll mention is you. Yes, you! As long as you file a Statement of Write-In Candidacy with the county elections official in your county of residence by Aug. 31, you could write in your own name to replace Newsom on the Sept. 14 ballot. The state will release the list of certified write-in candidates on Sept. 3 and as long as your name's on that list, your vote for yourself would count.
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