SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In the early 2000s, Larry Elder pondered the question of sexual harassment in the workplace and decided the free market and women themselves could handle it just fine.
"Smart" women, he said, would either overlook it or speak up.
"Competence makes you valuable to your organization... a corporation with a reputation for tolerating sexual harassment will soon find it difficult to attract women," Elder writes in his 2001 book. "Smart women simply overlook some boorish behavior by men. Off-color jokes and stupid remarks may be irritating, but a smart woman deals with this. She makes it clear to the speaker that she finds the remark unfunny and inappropriate."
Comments like that one, made decades ago, are providing opponents of the leading Republican candidate to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom with plenty of ammunition. The heightened scrutiny comes as voters receive their ballots this week.
In the early 2000s, Elder wrote that he thinks employers should be able to discriminate against women for having children. He said employers who inquire about a woman's child-rearing plans are "protecting an investment" in the same way professional sports contracts forbid players from engaging in hazardous conduct not related to their sport.
He has also suggested that motherhood is not compatible with public office, and defended inappropriate sexual comments and behavior by former President Donald Trump.
Coupled with new allegations from a former fiance, opponents on both sides of the aisle say Elder's attitude toward women make him unfit to be California governor.
"It's bull—," said rival Republican recall candidate Kevin Faulconer during a debate on Tuesday that Elder declined to attend.
"This is outrageous and speaks volumes about the type of person he is," tweeted Caitlyn Jenner. "We need to protect the privacy of all women, not abuse them. But it seems like Larry knows a lot about that."
On Thursday, in a report by Politico, Elder's ex-fiance and former producer Alexandra Datig said the radio host had brandished a gun at her at one point during their 18-month engagement while high on marijuana.
Datig said the two met in the early 2000s at a Playboy Mansion party. She described a tumultuous and controlling relationship with Elder, who she said was a frequent marijuana user.
After ending their relationship in 2015, Datig agreed to a non-disclosure agreement, but said she chose to speak to Politico because there is "too much at stake" in the recall election.
Elder responded to Datig's "salacious allegations" on Twitter, saying he had never brandished a gun at anyone.
"People do not get into public life precisely because of this type of politics of personal destruction. I am not going to dignify this with a response—it's beneath me," he said. "
Pregnancy in the workplace comes up multiple times in Elder's 2002 book, "Showdown: Confronting Bias, Lies and the Special Interests that Divide America."
"Are there legitimate business reasons for a venture capitalist to ask a female entrepreneur whether and when she intends to have children?" Elder wrote. "Hell, yes."
In the same book, he disparages a high school girl for suggesting that the glass ceiling still exists for women and said pregnancy and motherhood are "incompatible with the demands of running a state" government.
"To tell women they can run a state, have family and children, and be equally attentive to all — is a lie," he wrote.
He was also criticized for a 2000 column in Capitalism Magazine in which he wrote that "women know less than men about political issues, economics, and current events."
Elder's comments in that piece were based on research by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center, but Elder went on to argue that Democrats have more success with women because they have "emotionally driven, but often unsound policies."
Republicans face a dilemma in attracting female voters, Elder wrote, because their policy views require a more nuanced understanding of the free market.
"Opposition to tax, spend, and regulate requires an understanding of the benefits of the free market, as well as the relationship between high taxes and low productivity," he said. "Republican opposition to regulation requires an understanding of the unintended negative consequences of government market interference."
At a press conference this week, Elder stood by some of his comments.
He sidestepped a question on his 2000 column, instead arguing with a reporter for suggesting Elder thinks men are smarter than women.
"I never said anything even remotely close to that... It's pretty pathetic," Elder told reporters.
The candidate defended his position that employers should be allowed to factor child-rearing plans into their hiring decisions, saying that "government should not be intruding into the relationship between employer and employee."
Jessica Levinson, a professor and director of Loyola Law School's Public Service Institute, said Elder's opinions on women in the workplace align with a libertarian ideal of a free market, but that's not reality.
Elder's position on handling sexual harassment is not a "true solution," she said.
"If that were a real solution, then the remedy for anti-discrimination laws would just be to have women work harder and better as opposed to ask men to stop behaving a certain way," she said.
Elder has also dismissed sexual assault allegations against former President Donald Trump as "child's play" compared to those of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. In a 2017 tweet, he suggested a group of women protesting Trump were "safe" from sexual assault because they were unattractive. The tweet has since been deleted.
Newsom is doing his best to call attention to them.
During a Wednesday event with Planned Parenthood, Newsom said he and other California leaders have worked to ensure women can access abortions. Newsom argued Elder would try to walk back abortion rights granted under Roe v. Wade and blasted the conservative talk show host for his views on women.
In his 2002 book "Showdown," Elder cites multiple examples of successful women and says "shedding tears over the 'lack of female progress' results from activist-driven ignorance about the success of today's women."
"Larry Elder... is devoutly, for decades, opposed to Roe, doesn't believe in a glass ceiling...." Newsom said. "He does believe that women complain too much about sexism."
A spokeswoman for Elder did not respond to a request for comment.
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(Sophia Bollag of The Sacramento Bee Capitol Bureau contributed to this report.)
