Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer is running for governor.
"California has become the land of broken promises," Faulconer said in a video posted to YouTube late Monday. "It doesn't have to be this way. We can clean up California and it starts at the top."
It was a seemingly inevitable move, given Faulconer's ongoing criticism of Gov. Newsom's handling of the COVID-19 crisis. The moderate Republican had previously announced he was forming an exploratory committee for a run in early January, having hinted he’s interested in the job before.
Faulconer will be a candidate in a potential recall effort against Gov. Newsom.
His campaign website went live shortly after the announcement Monday.
In November, he told KCBS Radio the governor’s handling of the pandemic had him close to challenging him in 2022. "I believe that our state needs new leadership and I’ve been pretty outspoken about some of the changes that I think we need to see in our state," he said.
No Republican has won statewide office since Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006.
Faulconer has reportedly raised $1 million through his exploratory committee.
Faulconer is the former two-term mayor of San Diego, first elected in 2014.
Before that, he served on the San Diego City Council for many years. Faulconer was born in San Jose and grew up on Oxnard, graduating from San Diego State University in 1990.
Meanwhile, Gov. Newsom's missteps have been magnified throughout the pandemic, headlined by an ill-advised dinner at a high-end Wine Country restaurant against his own coronavirus health guidelines. The governor later apologized after much backlash from critics, calling it "a bad mistake."
So far, the recall effort against the governor has gathered an estimated 1.2 million of the required 1.5 million signatures as of the end of January. Democrats have branded it a MAGA-led "California coup," hoping to fend off Republicans.
Over the weekend, Republican John Cox announced his intentions to run if there's a recall election. Gov. Newsom beat Cox handily in the general election in 2018. It's believed Cox and Faulconer could split the GOP vote if both are on the ballot.
Silicon Valley venture capitalist and former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya has said he wants to challenge the governor, the only Democrat who has done so as of Monday. Others will likely get in the race if the recall effort gathers enough signatures.
The deadline to turn in the necessary paperwork for a recall is March 31.
Faulconer will join KCBS Radio's "The State of California" to discuss his campaign for governor Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
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