Larry Elder won't run again for California governor after recall loss

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Conservative radio talk show host Larry Elder says he won't challenge Gov. Gavin Newsom as California's Democratic governor runs for a second term in this November's election.

Elder, who easily topped the field of replacement candidates in September's recall election that Newsom convincingly survived, on Tuesday stated that he won't seek to oust Newsom a second straight time.

Instead, he announced the formation of the Elder for America PAC, which he said would help Republicans win back majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate in this year's midterm contents, as well as assist GOP candidates in local races where public safety and education are top issues.

THE NO'S HAVE IT – NEWSOM SURVIVES CALIFORNIA RECALL ELECTION

"I ran for Governor because I wanted to make a difference," Elder noted in a statement. "While I may not know what the future holds for me politically, our campaign’s ability to attract millions of votes and millions of dollars in a very short time demonstrates we have a message that resonates with Americans, and I believe we can put that to good use."

Republican conservative radio show host Larry Elder. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Newsom, who was overwhelmingly elected governor in 2018 in the heavily blue state, faced a recall drive sparked in 2020 mainly over accusations that he mishandled his state’s response to the coronavirus, the worst pandemic to strike the globe in a century. The effort was fueled by frustrations over the state's COVID restrictions on businesses and houses of worship, school shutdowns, as well as opposition to the state's high taxes. 

Newsom and his political team and allies spent last summer attempting to nationalize the recall drive by characterizing it as a Republican "power grab." And they turned to well-known and influential Democrats and progressives – including President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, a former U.S. senator and state attorney general in California, former President Obama, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts – to help inform and motivate California Democrats to vote.

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During the closing two months of the campaign, Newsom also spotlighted the COVID crisis to tout his efforts to vaccinate Californians and warn about morbid consequences if a conservative Republican replaced him in running the state and quickly scrapped the state’s vaccine and mask mandates. He repeatedly called the election "a choice about life and death." 

And after Elder jumped into the race last July and quickly zoomed to front-runner status among the 46 replacement candidates on the ballot, Newsom targeted the conservative talk radio host, regularly comparing him to former President Donald Trump, who remains very unpopular in California.

Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to the press after visiting with students at Melrose Leadership Academy, a TK-8 school in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021, one day after defeating a Republican-led recall effort. (AP Photo/Nick Otto) (AP)

According to the official results, 62% of the 12.8 million Californians who cast ballots voted no – meaning against removing Newsom from office – in the recall election, with 38% voting to oust him. Newsom’s margin beat expectations, topping the final public opinion polls heading into the election, which suggested the governor would survive by a much smaller double-digit margin.

Elder received roughly 3.5 million votes, grabbing more than 48% of the vote on the replacement ballot, more than 30 points ahead the next closest recall challenger.

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Elder charged in his statement that "today, we don’t just have a state to save, we have a country save. The radical left’s woke agenda is destroying America."

And he pledged "to fight for important issues in places where we can make a real difference in the outcome. The elite class has plenty of special interest groups and lobbyists to represent them. It’s high time the American people have their own representation."