Dahle running for governor
Republican State Sen. Brian Dahle, R-Bieber (Lassen County), has announced a campaign to challenge Gov. Gavin Newsom for governor Tuesday.
“I have some important news I will be sharing next week,” Dahle wrote on his Twitter account last week. On Monday, Dahle directed Facebook followers to join him at noon Tuesday for the announcement.
Dahle was first elected to the Assembly in 2012 and re-elected in 2014, 2016 and 2018 in a heavily Republican district. He won a special election to the state Senate in 2019 to replace Ted Gaines, who resigned the seat after being elected to the state Board of Equalization. Dahle previously served on the Lassen County Board of Supervisors.
Several top Republicans have passed on challenging Newsom after the governor decisively beat back the attempted recall against him in September. Conservative radio talk show host Larry Elder, who was the leading vote-getter in the recall, said earlier this year that he would not run in 2022. Another recall challenger, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, is running for Congress.
Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer is still mulling a campaign.
The challenges facing Dahle, however, will be far greater than Elder would have confronted, starting with a lack of name recognition. He represents one of the most sparsely populated areas of California, and one that is far from major media markets. Plus, Dahle will have to explain how he can raise the money to mount a credible campaign against Newsom, who has nearly $25 million in his campaign account.