Larry Elder

Age: 69
Party: Republican
Home: Los Angeles

Host of the nationally syndicated “The Larry Elder Show” on talk radio, a newspaper columnist and author. Also, a former trial attorney and small business owner. Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, his father, a World War II Marine Corps veteran, owned a restaurant, while his mother was a clerical worker for the War Department. 

Likes:

School choice, public safety programs, “robe-raging

Dislikes:

Teachers’ unions, government welfare programs, climate change “alarmists”

If he becomes governor: 

  • Would address homelessness by empowering religious institutions and nonprofits — not the government — to help people become self-sufficient 
  • Would suspend the California Environmental Quality Act to allow more development of housing units
  • Says there should be no minimum wage and that pay should be set by the free market 
  • Would oppose defunding the police
  • Would overturn Proposition 47, a voter-approved measure that reclassified certain theft and drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors
  • Would repeal mask mandates and mandates requiring teachers and school staff and requiring state workers to get a COVID-19 vaccination or face regular testing 
  • Would declare a state of emergency for California’s public schools, provide vouchers to families they could use at any school they want and would increase competition through charter and private schools after initially saying he would fire the state’s 15,000 “worst” teachers
  • Supports overturning Roe v. Wade and allowing states to decide abortion restrictions

Personal quote: 

“We’ve got a state to save.” 

Hear him on the issues:

Elder talks about why he won’t debate Republicans and why he believes he is wrongly portrayed.

YouTube video

Supporters:

More about him: 

Contact him:

@larryelder
electelder.com


Note: Candidates for this series are those who have reached 5% in at least one major statewide poll. 

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Sameea Kamal is a reporter at CalMatters covering the state Capitol and California politics. She joined CalMatters in June 2021 from the Los Angeles Times, where she was a News Desk editor. Sameea was...