June 22, 2021
Caitlyn Jenner Teams up With God to Woo California Voters
READ TIME: 3 MIN.
Today is the last day for counties to submit signatures gathered for the recall election of Governor Gavin Newsom. "Petitioners submitted 1.7 million signatures, which is about 200,000 more than needed to qualify for the ballot," writes the Sacramento Bee.
Two steps remain until Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis can schedule a special election. First, a 30-day review to determine the election's cost; and secondly, a 30-day review by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. "But after receiving the $215 million budget line item from counties, legislative leaders said they'll waive that review period," adds the Bee.
"What it all means: What could have been a 60-day review process will likely be shortened drastically, opening the option for Kounalakis to schedule the recall sooner than later, which Democrats say will be better for Newsom."
"A recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California finds 40% of likely voters say they would vote to remove Newsom from office," reports CBS8News.
The website Ballotpedia reports that, "so far, 37 candidates have officially filed with the California Secretary of State to run in a recall election. Among those candidates are eight Democrats, 17 Republicans, two Green Party candidates, and a Libertarian Party candidate. The remaining candidates filed with no party preference. Ballotpedia has tracked an additional 13 candidates who have declared their intent to run in the recall election but have not yet officially filed. In the 2003 recall election, 135 candidates ran."
This week, high-profile candidate Caitlyn Jenner took to the airwaves with a new campaign ad that tells voters what ails them: Too many regulations and not enough time worshipping God (as she does). In it, she conflates the number of words in California laws and regulations with those in the Bible, pointing out that they are 12-times longer. From that, she concludes that "politicians who wrote in worship tax increases and power."
From there, she continues her promise to lower taxes and regulations, concluding with: "Together we'll send a message to Sacramento that the power belongs to the people, and we only worship God. I'm Caitlyn Jenner, and I approve this message."
In setting herself up as the crusader against godless bureaucrats, is Jenner trying to woo Christian conservative voters?
As of June 17, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Jenner lags far behind other candidates in the recall race. San Diego businessman John Cox has raised $7.7 million, most of it from his own pocket, while San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer has about $2.4 million.
"The two other prominent Republicans in the race, reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner and former U.S. Rep. Doug Ose, have lagged far behind in reported fundraising. Jenner has raised about $295,000 while Ose has reported about $157,000," the outlet reported.
In an interview with Diane Sawyer, when she revealed she was transitioning, Jenner said she had been taking hormones in the 1980s, but had stopped her transition out of concern for how it might impact her children – and also, because of her Christian faith, according to the website Believe Out Loud.
Jenner explained her relationship with God in a 2017 interview with E! News, which wrote at the time: "As a Christian, Jenner said she still goes to Church often, believes in God and faith. However, that relationship made her wrestle with her identity."
"To me, my faith played a very big role in what I'm doing," said Jenner. "Growing up, I would think to myself, 'Why did God put all these questions in my head?'"
Jenner also spoke to her pastor during the last steps before beginning her transition, saying, "In the end, when I talk about faith, the last person besides my family, my close friends...the last hurdle I had to get over to know I was doing the right thing in transitioning was my faith and with God."
