Caitlyn Jenner has confirmed the rumors that have been circulating online for the past few weeks and announced plans to run for California governor. The former reality TV star and Olympic athlete hopes to replace Democrat Gavin Newsom in a recall election, the date of which has not yet been decided.
- Jenner confirmed the news in a post on her official website. In a post simply titled “I’m in!” Jenner, a longtime California resident, revealed her intentions to run for political office. “California has been my home for nearly 50 years. I came here because I knew that anyone, regardless of their background or station in life, could turn their dreams into reality,” she wrote. “But for the past decade, we have seen the glimmer of the Golden State reduced by one-party rule that places politics over progress and special interests over people. Sacramento needs an honest leader with a clear vision.”
- Admittedly, Jenner doesn’t have much political experience. While she’s certainly an accomplished athlete and a longtime public figure, Jenner has no political experience whatsoever. While that certainly hasn’t kept other celebrities (read: Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and most recently the disaster that was Donald Trump) from taking office, I would have thought we might have learned by now that celebrities are not politicians and we probably shouldn’t cross over.
- Her politics are pretty problematic as well. As a Republican, Jenner holds many problematic views that earned her hefty backlash from the LGBTQ+ community, so much so that she eventually kinda stopped talking about her political opinions. While everyone is certainly entitled to their own personal beliefs, I’m not sure I’d want someone whose interest in equality lies only in areas that affect her own life experience. She also loved Trump, which basically tells me everything I need to know about why I would never support her even if she was the most experienced politician ever.
- She’s got her work cut out for her. Of course, California is largely a liberal state and the likelihood of a Republican governor taking over seems pretty small. Add to that the fact that she has three other Republican candidates who also want the job – businessman John Cox, former San Diego mayor Kevon Faulconer, and former US congressman Doug Ose – and it seems the chances of her ever taking office seem rather minute. However, given the other crazy things that have happened in the US over the past 5 years, never say never.
