Politics
California Republican Assembly, Top Democrat, Endorse Larry Elder for Governor
As the race heats up, Elder has been on the campaign trail making his case and telling voters why he is the best candidate to be the next governor of California.
To no avail, the California Republican Assembly (CRA) says it has been trying to organize a debate between Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles-based conservative radio talk show host Larry Elder ahead of the gubernatorial recall election September 14.
Elder is the only Black candidate among GOP frontrunners vying to replace Newsom in the upcoming California recall election. He has also almost consistently polled among the top three choices of Californians who support removing the current governor from office.
CRA President Johnnie Morgan, who is also African American, said he reached out to several political organizations and media outlets around the state attempting to make the Newsom-Elder faceoff happen. All of them, he says, returned with a similar response: that timing would not permit a public discussion.
“No one was interested at this time to host it,” Morgan said. “We were looking to have a debate just between Elder and Newsom. It would only be fitting that (Elder) be allowed to tell people why he’s the best person to take over that position. And Newsom could tell people why he should remain in that position and defend his record.”
For much of his campaign to replace Newsom, Elder’s team has had to assume a defensive stance, explaining disparaging statements he has made about Blacks, women, climate change and other topics. The state is also investigating whether he improperly disclosed some of his sources of income.
Elder’s ex-fiancée Alexandra Datig has also accused Elder of verbal and emotional abuse. One incident, she claims, involved Elder intimidating her with a .45 revolver gun. The candidate has dismissed Datig’s allegations, calling them a “distraction.”
By now, most Californians have received a vote-by-mail ballot and have begun to turn them at ballot boxes, county voting centers or by mail.
As the race heats up, Elder has been on the campaign trail making his case and telling voters why he is the best candidate to be the next governor of California.
He has convinced one high-profile state Democrat who endorsed him last week. Former California State Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, a Democrat who represented the 24th district in Los Angeles County, endorsed Elder at the end of August. Romero was a state lawmaker from 1998 to 2010, serving in both the Assembly and Senate. She and former state Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado, a Republican, participated in a news conference last week to announce their support for Elder.
Romero, a school-choice advocate, said she “along with about 1.7 million Californians, signed the recall petition” that triggered the election to recall Newsom.
“This election, let’s be clear, is not about political parties. This is not about a rightwing controversy,” Romero said in her opening statement. “This is about Californians using our voice and our rights in a recall process that some of the party elites tried to stifle, but the people came through. It’s time for a change. We can do better.”
“At the end of the day, we need some shaking up in Sacramento,” Maldonado said. “What better than a gentleman, a brother from South Central Los Angeles who gets up every day to make a difference around our country and around our state. (Elder) you are the solution for Californians.”
The CRA endorsed Elder, an attorney, author, and broadcaster, for governor at its convention last month in Valencia. CRA, founded in 1935, is the oldest Republican volunteer organization in California that endorses Republican candidates. Chartered by the Republican Party, CRA has close to 2,000 members and 43 chapters across the state.
Under CRA bylaws, endorsement of statewide candidates requires the support of two-thirds of the delegates at the convention.
Elder garnered the support of 68% of the delegates.
As California’s oldest and most influential Republican volunteer organization, Morgan said, CRA’s endorsement is “coveted” for those candidates who meet the organization’s high standards — conservative, principled, electable, and the overwhelming choice of CRA’s membership.
“The other (Republican) candidates have good records and they have been working for the party,” Morgan said, explaining why CRA chose Elders. “But none of them have distinguished themselves to the extent that Elder has. Elder would be the governor for the people.”
On the gubernatorial recall ballot, on the first question, Morgan urges a YES vote to remove Newsom from the office of governor. On the second question, CRA endorses Elder to succeed Newsom as governor if he is recalled.
“So many businesses have left California due to Newsom’s policies,” Morgan said. “Some of those people that took off are probably thinking they acted prematurely. He is just making life more difficult for citizens. Especially for people with average means and who are business-minded.”
Commentary
Opinion: Lessons for Current Student Protesters From a San Francisco State Strike Veteran
How the nation’s first College of Ethnic studies came about, bringing together Latino, African American and Asian American disciplines may offer some clues as to how to ease the current turmoil on American college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war. After the deadline passed to end the Columbia University encampment by 2 p.m. Monday, student protesters blockaded and occupied Hamilton Hall in a symbolic move early Tuesday morning. Protesters did the same in 1968.
By Emil Guillermo
How the nation’s first College of Ethnic studies came about, bringing together Latino, African American and Asian American disciplines may offer some clues as to how to ease the current turmoil on American college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war.
After the deadline passed to end the Columbia University encampment by 2 p.m. Monday, student protesters blockaded and occupied Hamilton Hall in a symbolic move early Tuesday morning.
Protesters did the same in 1968.
That made me think of San Francisco State University, 1968.
The news was filled with call backs to practically every student protest in the past six decades as arrests mounted into hundreds on nearly two dozen campuses around the country.
In 1970, the protests at Kent State were over the Vietnam War. Ohio National Guardsmen came in, opened fire, and killed four students.
Less than two weeks later that year, civil rights activists outside a dormitory at Jackson State were confronted by armed police. Two African American students were killed, twelve injured.
But again, I didn’t hear anyone mention San Francisco State University, 1968.
That protest addressed all the issues of the day and more. The student strike at SFSU was against the Vietnam war.
That final goal was eventually achieved, but there was violence, sparked mostly by “outside agitators,” who were confronted by police.
“People used the term ‘off the pigs’ but it was more rally rhetoric than a call to action (to actually kill police),” said Daniel Phil Gonzales, who was one of the strikers in 1968.
Gonzales, known as the go-to resource among Filipino American scholars for decades, went on to teach at what was the positive outcome of the strike, San Francisco State University’s College of Ethnic Studies. It’s believed to be the first of its kind in the nation. Gonzales recently retired after more than 50 years as professor.
As for today’s protests, Gonzales is dismayed that the students have constantly dealt with charges of antisemitism.
“It stymies conversation and encourages further polarization and the possibility of violent confrontation,” he said. “You’re going to be labeled pro-Hamas or pro-terrorist.”
That’s happening now. But we forget we are dealing not with Hamas proxies. We are dealing with students.
Gonzales said that was a key lesson at SF State’s strike. The main coalition driving the strike was aided by self-policing from inside of the movement. “That’s very difficult to maintain. Once you start this kind of activity, you don’t know who’s going to join,” he said.
Gonzales believes that in the current situation, there is a patch of humanity, common ground, where one can be both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel. He said it’s made difficult if you stand against the belligerent policies of Benjamin Netanyahu. In that case, you’re likely to be labeled antisemitic.
Despite that, Gonzales is in solidarity with the protesters and the people of Gaza, generally. Not Hamas. And he sees how most of the young people protesting are in shock at what he called the “duration of the absolute inhumane kind of persecution and prosecution of the Palestinians carried out by the Israeli government.”
As a survivor of campus protest decades ago, Gonzales offered some advice to the student protesters of 2024.
“You have to have a definable goal, but right now the path to that goal is unclear,” he said.
About the Author
Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. A veteran newsman in TV and print, he is a former host of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
Community
Gov. Newsom, Attorney General Bonta Back Bill to Allow California to Host Arizona Abortion Care
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta announced last week that they are backing a bill introduced by the state legislative women’s caucus that would allow Arizona-based doctors to provide abortion care in California to patients from Arizona. Senate Bill (SB) 233 was authored in response to the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision on April 9 that an 1864 ban on abortion in the state is enforceable.
By California Black Media
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta announced last week that they are backing a bill introduced by the state legislative women’s caucus that would allow Arizona-based doctors to provide abortion care in California to patients from Arizona.
Senate Bill (SB) 233 was authored in response to the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision on April 9 that an 1864 ban on abortion in the state is enforceable. The bill also aims to counter growing support for anti-abortion legislation in states with Republican-majority legislatures since Roe v. Wade was overturned, according to supporters.
“California will not sit idly by. We’re urgently moving legislation to allow Arizona doctors to provide safe and reliable reproductive care to Arizonans here in California,” Newsom said.
Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), chair of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus said that abortion bans are based on laws that set women back to a time when they had limited human rights.
“Anti-abortion forces have resurrected a dead law passed at a time when women couldn’t vote and husbands beating their wives was lawful,” Skinner said.
On April 24, the Arizona House of Representatives voted to repeal the 1864 abortion ban. It now moves to the Arizona Senate for deliberation.
California Black Media
California Senators Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler Back Local News Resolution
Last week, California U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler, both Democrats, announced their support for a resolution that recognizes the significance of local news. In the resolution dated April 23, Padilla and Butler joined Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai’i) and 10 other colleagues in designating April as “Preserving and Protecting Local News Month.”
By California Black Media
Last week, California U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler, both Democrats, announced their support for a resolution that recognizes the significance of local news.
In the resolution dated April 23, Padilla and Butler joined Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai’i) and 10 other colleagues in designating April as “Preserving and Protecting Local News Month.”
The resolution acknowledges that local news outlets are a public good essential to preserving America’s democracy.
“Millions of Americans count on the local news to help them understand what is happening in their neighborhoods and around the country. Yet local newsrooms have suffered from some of the harshest layoffs and budget cuts in recent years,” Butler said in a statement.
“It is critical that we recognize the role our local press plays in keeping people informed on the world around them,” she said.
The resolution comes at a crucial time in the media industry when employment decreased by 26% nationwide between 2008 and 2020, according to supporters of the bill. Employment in the newsroom came with great uncertainty as more than 30,000 jobs were lost in the last two decades.
Sen. Schatz said that local news helps increase civic engagement and strengthens democratic norms and practices. This resolution will help local journalists maintain healthy and vibrant communities through valuable storytelling.
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