Campaign stunt, ads bring the California recall into new phase
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s recall election now features “the beast” and a “compassionate disruptor.”
That’s how John Cox and Caitlyn Jenner, Republicans running for California governor, pitched themselves to voters Tuesday in new campaign ads, taking different tones in their bids to oust Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Cox, a 65-year-old businessman who lost in a landslide to Newsom in 2018, released a video calling himself “the beast” to the photogenic Newsom’s “beauty.” He also resorted to name-calling, repeatedly labeling Newsom a “pretty boy” who lacks governing chops.
Launching a bus tour in Sacramento with a live Kodiak bear named Tag ambling behind him in the hot sun, Cox promised to bring “beastly” changes to state government. He spent $5 million to begin airing a 30-second version on television statewide, his campaign said.
The stunt was aimed at drawing eyes to his campaign, but he promised to discuss “serious issues” — like bringing down the cost of housing, boosting the state’s water resources and preventing special interests from influencing government.
Jenner, meanwhile, released a video with a more inspirational and patriotic tone. She calls herself a “compassionate disruptor” in the ad that features clips from her Summer Olympics appearance in 1976, when she won the gold medal in the men’s decathlon.
Jenner, now a 71-year-old transgender woman, has held no campaign events since announcing her candidacy nearly two weeks ago. A televised town hall in her hometown of Malibu is planned for Wednesday.
The ad shows a photo of Newsom only once and never says his name, though she is clearly blasting his pandemic policies by highlighting closed businesses and kids out of school.
Later Tuesday, two firefighters unions endorsed Newsom at the governor’s first campaign-style event of the recall.