CA Recall Election: Who Is Running?

CALIFORNIA — From an Olympic decathlete to an adult movie actress, an eclectic mix of Californians has already tossed proverbial hats into the ring to oust Gov. Gavin Newsom.

A handful of people have already announced plans to run though the actual filing period has not yet begun. That deadline is contingent upon the actual election date, which has yet to be set — a duty that will fall on Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis.

So far, seven unofficial candidates have said they are running for California governor. But it remains to be seen what the actual ballot will look like.

The election is likely to take place sometime in the fall, but it could take place as early as late summer. Until then, there are several steps potential candidates must take before they become actual candidates, such as paying a $3,916.12 filing fee or submitting at least 7,000 signatures, according to the California secretary of state.

No prominent Democrat has announced any plans to run, and Newsom cannot appear as a replacement for himself on the recall ballot. So the election will likely pit Newsom against a variety of Republican hopefuls.

The Democratic governor painted the recall election as a "partisan power grab," slamming the effort as a Republican-driven effort to thwart his progressive efforts.

California's finance department does not yet have an official cost estimate, but one unofficial estimate said the election will cost as much as $400 million, The Mercury News reported.

"Now is not the time to waste hundreds of millions of dollars on a recall effort that is nothing more than a partisan power grab," Newsom said. "I hope people take the time to discover what this actually is."

Here are seven people who have announced plans to run against Newsom. The first four candidates are well-known.

1. Caitlyn Jenner

Reality TV star, Olympic athlete and transgender activist Caitlyn Jenner, 71, declared plans to run in late April. She described herself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal.

Jenner dropped her first campaign video in early May, crowning herself the "compassionate disrupter." She talked about shattering glass ceilings and took aim at Newsom for "elitist" behavior.

"I came here with a dream 48 years ago to be the greatest athlete in the world," Jenner said. "Now I enter a different kind of race, arguably my most important one yet."

Jenner, a Republican, does not have a political background but her announcement to run harkens back to the last time California ousted a governor in 2003, when movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger filled Gov. Gray Davis' seat.

2. John Cox

Multimillionaire John Cox, 65, ran for California governor before and lost to Newsom by a huge margin in 2018 in a $5.7 million self-funded campaign. He's a businessman who has made most of his money in real estate, investments and property management, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Within 24 hours of Jenner releasing her video, Cox released a campaign television spot and grabbed plenty of attention from animal rights activists such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals after he featured a live bear at his side.

"We chose pretty over accomplished," the narrator in Cox's video said over whimsical music. "We chose beauty over brains." And then a bear (or "the beast") entered the frame. "We need to choose someone who can fix this place. ... Do you want beauty or a ball-busting beast?"

The 30-second video cost him $5 million, according to his campaign.

Throughout his early campaign trail, he's taken to calling Newsom a "pretty boy" while branding himself as "the beast."

3. Kevin Faulconer

Kevin Faulconer, 54, served as San Diego's mayor from 2014 to 2020 after an eight-year stint on the City Council. He intends to "clean up California" if elected, he said. Faulconer cited California's worsening homelessness crisis and the fumbling of the coronavirus vaccine rollout as some of the reasons for his run.

"I'm running to make differences, not promises," he said. "If we're willing to think differently, to demand results, we can kick the insiders out and bring the outsiders in," he said.

He also called the Golden State the "land of broken promises" under Newsom's reign.

4. Doug Ose

Former U.S. Rep. Doug Ose, 65, represented California's 3rd Congressional District from 1999 to 2005. He's a businessman who worked in real estate.

Ose also has an extensive background in agriculture. He has farmed 1,000 acres of rice three miles east from Sacramento International Aiport with his sister since 1985.

"I understand water, and I understand [agriculture] markets and who's using the rice that comes off my fields," Ose told Patch in an earlier interview. "I mean, this is the way I approach things. If I'm going to be involved, I'm going to know it soup to nuts."

If elected, Ose plans to focus on getting schools and businesses fully reopened, modernizing the water system and tackling the fraud schemes that have riddled the state's Employment Development Department, he said.

Three other candidates are lesser known.

5. Angelyne

Billboard model Angelyne, 70, announced her potential run in April. She's often seen jetting around Los Angeles in her pink Corvette and rose to fame after she was featured on a series of billboards in the 1980s.

"If I win, I promise that I will not sit in an office, I’ll still drive my car as the governor’s office on wheels," said Angelyne, according to the Los Angeles Times. (Angelyne's real name is reportedly Renee Goldberg.)

She previously ran in the 2003 recall election to replace Davis.

6. Mary Carey

Mary Carey, a retired porn star who also ran in the 2003 recall race, said she has "big plans for California." She's a former VH1 reality TV star and radio host and said she retired from the adult entertainment industry.

Carey ran as an independent in 2003, and her website bio said that her campaign at that time was a publicity stunt.

If elected, Carey will help businesses recover from the pandemic and work with California's homeless population to find better housing solutions, she said.

7. Sam Gallucci

Sam Gallucci, 60, is a senior pastor at Embrace! Church in Oxnard. He previously had a career in technology and got his start in 1981 when he was hired by IBM.

PeopleSoft, where he was executive vice president and general manager, was acquired by Oracle in 2004 for $10.5 billion, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Some of the elements of his early campaign platform included tackling homelessness, supporting small businesses and eliminating power shortages, according to his website.

8. Bonus Candidate: Ric Grenell

Grenell, 54, served as acting national intelligence director in former President Donald Trump's administration last year.

He hasn't officially announced his candidacy but teased a potential run for governor at the Conservative Political Action Conference in late February.

"In my three decades in American politics, I have never seen a better case for a recall than there is right now in California," Grenell said in his closing remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference. "And of course, if a public official is still failing to deliver on their promises, and if you can't limit their term or recall them in time, there's always one other option: You can run against them yourself."