The Globe has just learned that California’s upcoming Recall Election will have yet another candidate on the ballot: Steve Chavez Lodge.
Campaign spokesman Randy Economy said Steve Chavez Lodge officially announced Tuesday that he is running to be Governor of the State of California in the upcoming Recall Election of California Governor Gavin Newsom.
A press announcement said:
Lodge, 62, has dedicated the past 40 years forging relationships between public and private agencies, as well as working the streets fighting violent crime as a gang homicide detective with the Santa Ana Police Department.
Lodge is also a small business owner establishing his own consulting company.
Lodge also served in the United States Army, Arctic Paratrooper, and later was selected as the non-commissioned officer Adjutant to the Brigade Commander of the 172nd Airborne Infantry Brigade, in Alaska. Lodge has served his community as a police commissioner, city budget commissioner, and waste management commissioner.
“California is completely broken, it is unrecognizable. Californians are suffering, our hopes and dreams have been dashed by career politicians like Gavin Newsom who have become the problem and not the solution. Together let us get government out of our lives, off our backs, and out of our wallets,” said Lodge.
In an interesting campaign twist, Lodge is engaged to Vicki Gunvalson, who stared in the Bravo Television series “Real Housewives of Orange County,” for 15 years. Lodge also appeared on the popular series with Gunvalson during her last four seasons. No longer on the show, Gunvalson will be on the campaign trail with Lodge.
“We cannot and will not sit on the side lines in this movement to recall and remove Newsom as Governor of California. I have known Steve Chavez Lodge for more than 45 years, and the current field of announced candidates all lack the skills needed to fix our beloved California,” Economy said,
In the 2003 recall of Gov. Gray Davis, 135 candidates ran and the winner received 48.58 percent of the vote, according to Ballotpedia. A sample ballot image of the gigantic 2003 gubernatorial recall election is below.
Ballotpedia is keeping an updated list of politicians and public figures who have declared their candidacy in a potential recall election – 67 have declared and Chavez Lodge makes 68. However, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R-Granite Bay) has indicated he may also run for Governor, and there is still talk that Ric Grenell, former Trump administration Director of National Intelligence and Ambassador to Germany, is considering his options.
This is the Ballotpedia list of candidates:
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Daniel Kapelovitz[44]
View Comments (6)
Here we go... the California Clown Car of NO-EXPERIENCE "candidates" rolls out again... this state is DOOMED to suffer with this crowded slate of NOBODIES...
All the more reason to get the heck outta this clown-car of a state ... this is a complete JOKE.... why not have the wife run, too???
At least she's got recognition from her "entertainment" (if you can call it that) "career"... never mind that she's got no management or political experience (as do the majority of this ridiculous list)
It's for THIS reason, that Newsom will likely retain his office... where THE HELL is the California Republican Party to run interference on this debacle???
Oh yeah, Patterson is sending emails asking for money to support the recall efforts - with a list of 50+ and growing???
I can't wait to get the hell out of California... what an absolute JOKE of a state....
I would like to be optimistic but the recall is likely to fail if there's literally no known Democrat running. Personally I'd prefer a conservative Democrat but fact is 30% of Democrats hate Newsom and if there's no Democrat running it's likely optimistic at best to even hope that the support for the recall reaches 45%. All the guys are pretty much no names. An embarrassment also is all the Democrat state legislators are blindly following Newsom and the party line.
Art,
Is there such a thing as a conservative Democrat and if so could you please name one? I have heard of center left but never conservative democrat.
I am not be facetious just curious.
Looking at the state legislature, no. Conservative democrat politicians are pretty non existent. I think the closest running in this recall is James Hanink who's NPP although he's pretty unknown and not sure if he's against mask mandates and lockdowns.
Thanks Art!
Much appreciated.
It looks like they are near extinct at all levels of government.
Like all the news articles, Steve Lodge is not Vicki's Fiancé'. They broke up in January in Puerto Vallarta Mexico, Steve moved out of the condo and is renting his own small condo in the same building. Steve actually wrote Vicki a list of 60 things he does not like about her. He wants zero drama, does not want to be controlled. This is all a publicity stunt, Vicki wants to keep in front of the media, remain relevant, I don't understand Steve's angle, he wants to live in Mexico, drama free.