Here's Why Black Leaders Are Working To Stop Larry Elder's California Recall Campaign
A MARTINEZ, HOST:
If California voters successfully remove Governor Gavin Newsom, conservative radio host Larry Elder is the Republican frontrunner to win the governorship. Libby Denkmann of member station KPCC lays out how Elder got to the top of a very crowded pack in deep blue California.
LIBBY DENKMANN, BYLINE: Talk radio host Larry Elder goes by a lot of nicknames. His favorite...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
LARRY ELDER: Larry Elder here, the sage from south central.
DENKMANN: As in south central Los Angeles, where he grew up before heading to Brown University in the early '70s. For 27 years, he's been a provocateur on LA radio dials, a Black attorney who leans libertarian and delights in skewering Democratic politicians, Governor Gavin Newsom being his latest target.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ELDER: The way Gavin Newsom shut down this state while ignoring science, sitting up there at the French Laundry restaurant.
DENKMANN: Newsom has apologized for that infamously fancy dinner during a COVID surge. But Elder says Newsom's coronavirus restrictions were hypocritical and disproportionately hurt Black and Brown families. At the same time, Elder argues that systemic racism is a fabrication.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ELDER: It is a lie. It is a lie. It is a lie.
DENKMANN: He says Black leaders who call out the ongoing legacy of racist systems should instead follow his father's advice.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ELDER: Hard work wins.
DENKMANN: At a recent rally and fundraiser in Orange County, Navy veteran Chris McGee (ph) said Elder's personal responsibility message resonates with him.
CHRIS MCGEE: You know, all this diversity training - why are we trying to divide each other over such silliness?
DENKMANN: McGee is African American and a city chair for the Orange County GOP.
MCGEE: I really don't understand why other African Americans and people of color aren't here today supporting me.
KAREN BASS: In the Black community, we are very familiar with Larry Elder.
DENKMANN: Like Elder, Democratic Representative Karen Bass also got her start in South LA as an emergency room nurse turned community organizer. She now represents much of the area in Congress. Bass says Elder's promise to rescind COVID-19 vaccine and masking mandates on his first day in office would put lives at risk.
BASS: The policies that he projects are an absolute threat.
DENKMANN: Bass and more than a dozen Black leaders in California are partnering with the African American Voter Registration, Education, and Participation Project to mobilize Black voters to turn in their recall ballots.
KEYVA CLARK: Hi, Cathy (ph). How are you? My name's Clark (ph), and I'm calling with No On The Right Wing Recall.
DENKMANN: On a recent Saturday afternoon in South Los Angeles, volunteer Keyva Clark (ph) cranks through a phone banking list.
CLARK: Just so - yeah, she was like, I did that a week ago (laughter).
DENKMANN: Groups like this one have helped California's electorate become more diverse in recent years. But voters are still whiter and more affluent than the state as a whole. When I ask about Larry Elder, Clark gives me a look and cites and adage popularized by the author Zora Neale Hurston.
CLARK: All skinfolk ain't kinfolk.
DENKMANN: Clark says Newsom has been supportive of stricter use-of-force standards for police, policy she cares about. Elder blames criminal justice reforms Democrats have championed for a rise in violent crime, something cities across the country have seen in red and blue states.
CLARK: He doesn't embody what African American voters really need and want in a governor.
DENKMANN: If elected, Elder would be the state's first Black governor, but would face another uphill battle in Sacramento, where Democrats hold super majorities in both chambers of the legislature.
For NPR News, I'm Libby Denkmann in Los Angeles.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOUSE ON THE KEYS' "PRAXIS")
Copyright © 2021 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.