One of the California Legislature’s more vocal opponents of Gov. Gavin Newsom will run to replace him in the recall election this fall.
Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, officially threw his hat in the ring Tuesday afternoon, saying he wants to “renew the meaning of ‘We the People.’”
“That’s what the Recall has been about from the beginning,” he said in a blog post. “It’s what our campaign will be about until the end. And it’s what the mission of the Governor’s Office will be every day that I serve.
Kiley, who has served in the Legislature since 2016, holds degrees from Harvard and Yale, and has spent much of his tenure as the vice-chair of the Assembly Education Committee, where he has long fought for access to charter schools and other parent choice options.
Over the past year, he has been particularly supportive of the recall effort.
Kiley has tried, in his own right, to undo some of actions Newsom took to control the coronavirus in 2020. In January, he self-published a book about the recall, calling Newsom “America’s most corrupt governor,” and leaders of the effort describe him as the favorite among grassroots supporters.
“He’s the one candidate that can unite California and bring everybody together,” said lead proponent Orinn Heatlie. “He embodies the sentiment of the recall itself.”
Heatlie is endorsing Kiley in word only, he said, and no resources from the recall campaign will go toward the assemblyman’s gubernatorial bid.
Kiley enters a well-established field of Republicans less than a week after Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis scheduled the recall election for Sept. 14. His GOP opponents include former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, businessman and 2018 candidate John Cox, former Rep. Doug Ose, and celebrity Caitlyn Jenner.
With only 70 days until the election and 10 days left for candidates to enter, the chances of a big-name-Republican entering the race are growing slim. Political experts and consultants say Arnold Schwarzenegger’s run in the 2003 recall helped rally supporters to oust Democratic Gov. Gray Davis. Without a Schwarzenegger equivalent in 2021, it’s unclear if the recall will gain the momentum needed to overthrow Newsom.
Early in the year, some had hoped former Trump cabinet member Ric Grenell would enter the race. But after teasing a run during remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Grenell has stayed away from the election. Instead, he’s launching a group called “Fix California” aimed at changing the state’s political landscape.
One prominent recall Facebook group, which had previously been 8,600 members in support of Grenell, switched last month to supporting Kiley. Dave Miller, a conservative political consultant who runs the Facebook page, said they made the switch after radio silence from Grenell’s campaign.
“We decided, OK, for the sake of the recall, let’s get involved, get behind the candidate that we know we can support, we know he has a track record in Sacramento, we know where he stands on the issues,” Miller said. “It was really a no-brainer for our team.”
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