Caitlyn Jenner launches bid for California governor

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Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympian, reality TV star and transgender activist, said Friday she is running to be governor of California, as a recall of the sitting Democratic governor moves forward.

In a press release posted to Twitter, Jenner, a longtime Republican, said that she’d make a “formal announcement” in the “the coming weeks” and pitched herself as a “compassionate disruptor” who will campaign on “solutions” and “providing a roadmap back to prosperity” for the state.

Jenner, the stepparent to the famous reality TV Kardashian clan, had been reportedly considering entering the governor's race if a petition to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom qualified for the ballot.

If a recall formally qualifies for the ballot, voters will be asked two questions: The first would be whether they want to recall Newsom, and the second would be who should replace him. There is no limit to how many people can run, and whoever gets the most votes wins, an open election that allows someone to be elected with only a small plurality.

Jenner could be the first of what many strategists believe will be a long line of celebrity and novelty candidates who could closely mirror those who ran during the 2003 recall in election in California, when adult film star Mary Carey, former child actor Gary Coleman and Hustler publisher Larry Flynt added their names to the list of more than 100 would-be governors.

Jenner endorsed former President Donald Trump in the 2016 election but later renounced her support, writing in a 2018 Washington Post editorial, "I was wrong."

"The reality is that the trans community is being relentlessly attacked by this president," she wrote.