Now clearly the GOP frontrunner, Elder takes heat from Newsom — and GOP peer Faulconer

Aug. 26—Larry Elder has become the clear front-runner among the two dozen GOP challengers Republicans who aim to oust Gov. Gavin Newsom in the Sept. 14 recall election, and that's spurred intensified criticism from the governor — as well as at least one of Elder's Republican peers.

The latest recall developments came early this week as candidates descended on Los Angeles, stepping up their final marches in the last three weeks before as election, once considered a mere "sideshow," that could reshape the state's future.

Newsom, who up until last week hadn't said much about Elder, has focused his attention anew on the 69-year-old conservative talk-radio host, who has raised more than $5 million for his recall drive.

But Republican challenger Kevin Faulconer, former mayor of San Diego, also took aim at Elder this week on a campaign swing in Downtown L.A., where he primarily aimed to promote his policy platform on homelessness. Faulconer, who trails Republicans Elder and John Cox in the polls as well as Democrat Kevin Paffrath, said Elder lacked the character to run the Golden State, if voters were to boot Newsom.

"When you have views like that, that's absolutely extreme," Faulconer said on Tuesday, Aug. 24 in Los Angeles. "That is not who we are as Californians and it shows he does not have the judgment or the character, let alone the experience, to run this state to bring people together and bring positive change."

Of course, Faulconer got his swings in at Newsom — calling out the governor for "inaction" on a homeless crisis that demands a "multifaceted" intervention that should include law enforcement, mental health services, shelters and prohibitions against encampments on the city sidewalks.

Faulconer, once considered a leading GOP recall contender, began his amped-up criticism of Elder last week, when he used an expletive to describe Elder's statement in a 2002 book, that employers should be able to ask women if and when they plan to get pregnant. State and federal laws ban workplace discrimination based on pregnancy.

Last week, Elder was asked at a news conference if he still held the view expressed in the book. He answered: "government should not be intruding into the relationship between employer and employee."

Other items sparking recent scrutiny include Elder's past statements that he doesn't believe there's a gender-based wage gap or glass ceiling, that welfare "incentivizes women to marry the government" and that President Donald Trump motivated obese women to get off the couch when they marched against him in 2018.

Elder has cast aside such criticism. In an interview with CalMatters, Elder stressed that while others may be trying to paint him as extreme right on labor and gender concerns, at the core of his policy prescriptions are basic economics and common sense — prescriptions he said have been glossed over by "left-wing media" and other cultural observers.

Also, Elder's former fiancee has claimed he emotionally mistreated her and once brandished a gun in front of her — allegations that Elder has vehemently denied, appearing on Sean Hannity's Fox News program to defend himself.

All the attention, though, has not slowed Elder, who snapped back at his critics during a series of Southern California rallies.

"I've never waved a firearm, loaded or unloaded, at anybody," he said at a rally in Newport Beach last week, he pushed back. "This is the best you guys can do?" he said to his critics. "They're scared. They are scared to death."

Elder also appeared Tuesday evening in the San Fernando Valley, at a fundraiser at the Warner Center Marriott Woodlands Hills. He also dropped in briefly at rally by supporters at a nearby park.

Voters are about to be asked it they want to remove Newsome from office. If a majority of voters choose "no," he will remain. But if a majority of voters opt for "yes" on the first question on the recall ballot, Elder could theoretically win the state's top office with a small plurality of votes, and would become the state's first Black governor.

FiveThirtyEight's average of polls had Elder winning 19.3% of the vote on the ballot's second question, putting him far ahead of the next biggest vote-getter, Kevin Paffrath, a Ventura Democrat, who has 9.1%.

Faulconer is not alone in his recent jabs at Elder. Jackie McGowan, a Democrat running in the recall election, has attacked Elder for past comments on women.

"Although Elder has made his living by making provocative comments, the war he has waged on women has gone a step too far" McGowan said in a recent campaign statement.

But the most high-profile push against Elder has come from the governor himself.

As the Sacramento Bee recently led with, "Gov. Gavin Newsom talks about Larry Elder everywhere he goes." Newsom has criticized Elder for opposing abortion rights and declared him even further to the right than former President Donald Trump. Newsom has also warned Democrat-dominated California voters about growing GOP strength and the specter of a Congressional shift to the GOP.

But don't expect all the recent exchanges to guarantee any more support for Faulconer, or any less enthusiasm for Elder — at least among his core supporters — said Jack Pitney, professor of American Politics at Claremont McKenna College

"(Elder's) core supporters will either ignore or rationalize the story," Pitney said of Elder's following. "They're listening to his message."

"He's a politician at a time when we need bold solutions," said Elder supporter Richard Grenell, former U.S. ambassador to Germany during the Trump administration, and who in 2020 became the acting director of national intelligence, in a statement shared with the California Globe. "Kevin Faulconer should drop out of the race, so a solid conservative can garner enough votes to replace Newsom."

Still, Faulconer seems intent on staying the course, with mere weeks remaining in the campaign.

"If he can't generate positive energy, maybe he can advance by generating negative energy," said Pitney, adding the switch to a more aggressive tone of attacks is "the political equivalent to using "the dark side of the force."

Reporter Mark McGreal and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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