Gloria Romero was the Democratic majority leader in the state senate from 2001 until 2008, the first woman ever to hold that position. She then stepped down to become chairman of the education committee before leaving the senate due to term limits in 2010. Romero now is now a professor at Pepperdine.
Romero has endorsed Larry Elder for governor. She stated:
Our public schools need big change. I’m Gloria Romero; I was the majority leader of Democrats in the state Senate. I believe in charter schools and in school choice. So does Larry Elder – but not Gavin Newsom. He shut our public schools while he sent his kids to private schools.
Yes: I’m a Democrat. But the recall of Newsom is not about political party. It’s about Newsom. Larry Elder for governor.
Note the dig at Newsom for his hypocrisy — the same kind of hypocrisy that enabled him to dine maskless at a swank restaurant during the height of the pandemic.
How much will Romero’s endorsement help Elder? I don’t know enough about California politics to answer that question.
For what it’s worth, I suspect that there’s a huge amount of anger at Newsom, including among Democrats. Many of these Democrats may be trying to decide whether they are angry enough to do the unthinkable — vote for a conservative Republican.
Maybe Romero’s endorsement will persuade some of them that it’s okay to do so. But probably only if they are already leaning that way.
BY THE WAY: The comments to Fox News’ report on Romero’s endorsement includes one that suggests Newsom’s path to survival (and is consistent with what I’ve heard from others):
I live in LA county. A few days ago, I received 7 ballots in the mail. 3 of them are for people that have not lived in my house for more than 3 years. Two of them now live in the Midwest. I’m just one household.
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