California deserves a governor who has political experience. Larry Elder is a talk radio host.
Let’s compare the qualifications of Governor Gavin Newsom and the qualifications of Larry Elder. One actually has a background in politics, having won at least three key political positions. The other is a talk radio host with no background in politics.
Governor Gavin Newsom is qualified to be California’s Governor
Governor Gavin Newsom has a background in politics. He was the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011. He received 41.92% of votes, and got 52.81% of votes in the run-off election.
One of the things he is best known for as Mayor of San Francisco, was his 2004 decision to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The Los Angeles Times reported the following in 2018:
Newsom’s decision to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples – just a month into his term – was at once slapdash and choreographed. Almost immediately it spun out of his control. What was meant to be a short-lived act of civil disobedience on Feb. 12, 2004, turned into a 29-day saga during which more than 4,000 couples wed, catapulting Newsom into the national fray.
The Los Angeles Times
It wasn’t until 2012 that the Supreme Court of the United States chose to hear a case called Windsor v. United States. In short, Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer were legally married in Canada. They had been together as a couple for 44 years. Thea died two years after the couple got married. The United States federal government refused to recognize their marriage, which prevented Edie from receiving the spousal benefits she had a right to.
On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the “Defense of Marriage Act” was unconstitutional. Same-sex marriage was now legalized. Clearly, (then Mayor of San Francisco) Gavin Newsom was ahead of his time when he decided to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2004.
In February 2010, Gavin Newsom ran for the office of California’s Lieutenant Governor. He got 50.1% of the vote. Abel Maldonado (Republican) got 38.9%, and Pamela Brown (Libertarian) got 5.9%. Gavin Newsom won the election, and became the Lieutenant Governor of (then) Governor Jerry Brown.
In 2014, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom ran for a second term. He got 57.2% of the vote. His opponent, Ron Nehring (Republican) got 42.8% of the vote.
In 2018, Gavin Newsom ran for Governor of California. Ballotpedia reported that (then) Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom (Democrat) defeated businessman John Cox (Republican) in the general election on November 6, 2018 for governor of California. Gavin Newsom got 61.9% of the votes. John Cox got 38.1% of the vote.
Newsom’s victory preserved California’s Democratic trifecta. At the time of the general election, California had been a Democratic trifecta since 2011, when Gov. Jerry Brown (D) took office. California last elected a Republican Governor in 2006, when Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) was re-elected to a second term. Newsom’s 61.9% share of the vote was greater than any Democratic candidate for governor in state history, surpassing the 59.7 percent record set by Jerry Brown (D) in 2014…
Ballotpedia
Larry Elder is not qualified to be California’s Governor
Larry Elder is host of The Larry Elder Show. According to the information posted on The Larry Elder Show website, Larry Elder graduated from Michigan University Law School and later practiced law, before starting his talk radio show.
The show’s website claims that Larry Elder “is a New York Times best-selling author of four books”. His most recent book (published in 2018) is titled: “A Lot Like Me: A Father and Son’s Journey to Reconciliation“. However, The New York Times Nonfiction Best Sellers list of 2018 (which Wikipedia redirected from The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Sellers list of 2018) – does not include that title. The book is does not appear on any of The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Sellers lists from any week between May of 2018 and the last week of December 2018. (Scroll back from there to view the previous weeks list of non-fiction)
The Larry Elder show’s About Page also states that Larry Elder had a national TV show called “Moral Court”. That’s true. According to Wikipedia, “Moral Court” was intended to be a sister show to “The People’s Court”. The show first aired on October 2, 2000, and the last episode was released on May 23, 2001. In it, Larry Elder was to be the judge. He would hear cases that would never been accepted to a real court. Instead of plaintiffs and defendants – there were an accuser and the accused. Larry Elder would give money to the winner.
On September 23, 2000, Los Angeles Times has this to say about “Moral Court:
…Although sold to TV stations reaching nearly 90% of U.S. homes, “Moral Court” isn’t getting much respect in Elder’s backyard, either. KCAL-TV, which features Elder daily discussing an issue on his radio show during its afternoon newscast, bought the program but has scheduled it at 1 a.m., a time slot mostly relegated to informercials and reruns.
According to [show producer Stu] Billett, part of the problem was that KABC only agreed to allow Elder to host the show if it didn’t play opposite his radio program — between the hours of 3 and 7 p.m. — in Los Angeles…
Los Angeles Times
The Larry Elder Show About page says: “He won a Los Angeles Emmy for “Best News Show” in 1999…” The implication is that The Larry Elder Show was what he won the Los Angeles Emmy for — but that’s not true. In an undated post on KFSA News Talk Radio it says:
…Elder was the subject of profiles by both “60 Minutes” and “20/20”. In 1999 he received a Los Angeles area Emmy for “Best News Special.” He was the reporter for several episodes of the groundbreaking PBS “National Desk” series, including “Redefining Racism: Fresh Voices from Black America.”
KFSA News Talk Radio
The Larry Elder Show website states that he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015. That’s true.
How does one get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? There is a process involved:
Nominations are accepted online only.
The Walk of Fame includes six categories: Motion Pictures, Television, Radio, Recording, Live Theatre/Performance, Sports Entertainment.
All Nominations must include these documents: Photo of the nominee, Brief bio of nominee (no more than 2 pages), Nominee’s qualifications, List of contributions to the community and civic-oriented participation of the nominee, Letter of agreement from the nominee or his/her management.
The criteria for receiving a star consists of the following: professional achievement, longevity in the category of five years or more, contributions to the community and the guarantee that the celebrity will attend the dedication ceremony if selected.
Posthumous awards require a five-year waiting period.
It is important to note that the person who is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame must pay a fee. According to the Hollywood Walk of Fame website, the current fee is $50,000 after selection. The money is used to pay for the creation and installation of the star, as well as maintenance of the Walk of Fame. (Price subject to change).
In 2015 (the year Larry Elder got his star) Insider posted an article with the following information:
…If a person’s application gets accepted, whoever did the nominating needs to pony up: a star costs $30,000. The Chamber of Commerce claims that half goes to building the star, while the other half is used for upkeep…
Insider
You may have noticed that none of the above involves a background in politics. Larry Elder is a talk radio host. He is unqualified to become Governor of California.
If you are a registered voter in California — it is vitally important that you vote NO on the recall. Voting NO will help us to keep Governor Gavin Newsom. We need a real governor, one who has a history of holding a variety of political offices. We don’t need a talk show host.
Larry Elder is Unqualified is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites.
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