The Secretary of State for California has publicized a preliminary list of forty one candidates who have qualified to run in the oncoming September’s special recall election to oust incumbent Gov. Gavin Newsom.
This preliminary list (pdf) published on the day, July 17, will be followed by a final, certified list to be released on July 21. Included on the list are twenty one (21)Republicans, eight (8) Democrats, one (1) Libertarian, nine (9) independents, and two (2) Green Party members. A name not on the list is that of GOP hopeful Larry Elder, who is also an author and contributor to The Epoch Times. He joined the race on July 12.
Larry Elder shared the letter from Secretary of State, California, Shirley Weber noting he wasn’t qualified as a candidate due to “incomplete redacted and/or unredacted income tax returns.” In a statement, Elder said his campaign filed “over two hundred pages of five years of tax returns,” while in another statement,
“Politicians know I’m the only candidate who will beat Gavin Newsom—and that’s why they don’t want me on the ballot,” he wrote, accusing the elections officials of “using shenanigans which they invented to obstruct the doors to the Governor’s Office, to ensure they continue to stay in power.”
Elder firmly added that, if the Secretary of State does not upturn the decision to exclude him from the list of qualified candidates, he may file a lawsuit.
A campaign spokeswoman of Elder, Ying Ma said in a release to The Associated Press that she expects his name to be on the final list.
“Our campaign submitted every document required by the Secretary of State and the Los Angeles County Registrar,” she added.
Sept. 14 has been announced as the date for the recall of the election earlier this month by Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, a Democrat, who also posited the election would cost not less than $276 million.
