Republican California recall candidate Larry Elder conceded on Tuesday night, telling his supporters, "Let's be gracious in defeat. By the way, we may have lost the battle, but we are going to win the war."
Elder was one of the 46 candidates on the recall ballot; if Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) had been ousted from office, the candidate with the most votes would have replaced him. Earlier in the week, Elder dodged questions about whether he would accept the results, and sponsored a website that claimed he lost the election before it even took place.
Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel tweeted from Elder's Election Night party, and said the conservative talk show host was "giving highlights from his stump speech," including touting his focus on school choice. "This speech sounds a little like a 2022 opening act," Weigel added, noting that Elder recently told CBS News' Major Garrett that he wants to stay in politics.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
During his remarks, Elder declared that he "wasn't running against Gavin Newsom, I was running against the left-wing media ... and we still scared the bejesus out of them." He also denied that "systemic racism" is a problem, brought up former President Barack Obama, saying he has embraced "this bogus Black Lives Matter movement," and stated that his own "movement is about bringing people together and dealing with the problems we have."
-
Eel-egal trade: the world’s most lucrative wildlife crime?Under the Radar Trafficking of juvenile ‘glass’ eels from Europe to Asia generates up to €3bn a year but the species is on the brink of extinction
-
Political cartoons for November 2Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include the 22nd amendment, homeless camps, and more
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
Dutch center-left rises in election as far-right fallsSpeed Read The country’s other parties have ruled against forming a coalition
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
