Once the recall election happens, the vote removing Gavin Newsom is only one part of the question on the ballot. California voters will then be asked who the next governor should be.

Officially entering the race today is a particularly famous name and face – Caitlyn Jenner.

I’m in! California is worth fighting for. Visit https://t.co/a1SfOAMZQ3 to follow or donate today. #RecallNewsom pic.twitter.com/9yCck3KK4D

— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) April 23, 2021

Now, the transgender issue is sure to be one that comes up in the course of the recall election, but I’m just going to drop this fine piece of irony here and then move on to another issue.

Having left the state, I no longer have a dog in this fight. But it would be absolutely hilarious if the first female governor of California were a man. pic.twitter.com/0fAwtSLFCE

— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) April 23, 2021

Gather around kids, I have a story to tell about the last time a recall election happened, and a “Republican” celebrity with zero governmental experience got elected to replace the Democrat. If you’re old enough to remember this happening, then I regret to tell you that this happened 17 and a half years ago.

Now, Arnold Schwarzenegger becoming governor of California certainly wasn’t the worst thing that ever happened to the state, but it certainly wasn’t the herald of reforming state government, either. It’s not just the governor’s mansion that has to change in California. It’s the state legislature that also has to change, and that is currently also in the hands of Democrats. As Arnold Schwarzenegger learned, it isn’t enough to simply have enough name recognition, money, and celebrity cred to get elected, if you can’t actually get anything done once you’re in the office.

The jumping in of celebrities, no matter how well intentioned their motives, turns what should be a serious consideration of issues and the direction of state government into a media circus. Caitlyn Jenner getting into the race automatically creates media buzz, and not because Gavin Newsom has been terrible. It’s because Caitlyn Jenner brings a whole lot of drama – the kind that the media can spend days and days and days endlessly chewing over.
https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1385617018972348417
Yeah, what California really needs to address right now isn’t the ballooning state spending, the ramifications of stupid laws like AB5, the crumbling energy infrastructure, the yearly appearance of deadly wildfires, or the eternal COVID-19 lockdowns. The voters NEED to know if the Kardashian brood are going to support Caitlyn Jenner!

Caitlyn Jenner may have the best of intentions, but running for governor is probably not the best or greatest idea. Is this what the people who worked to collect signatures for a recall election really wanted? Is this entire process a worthless exercise for Republicans anyway, so may as well let Jenner have at it?

Newsom may see the Caitlyn Jenner candidacy as a joke, but he can’t afford to not take everything seriously right now. First, he has to defeat the recall question. Newsom’s pride might be wounded that anyone has the temerity to recall him, but he might survive that vote. If he does, then the second question becomes moot. However, a famous name on the ballot is a draw that Newsom has to pay attention to, even as he is trying to keep any Democrats from jumping into the race and challenging him from the left. If Newsom can’t keep the Democrats of California in line, then the recall will become the same free-for-all that the Gray Davis recall of 2003 was. At which point, all bets are off, and the celebrity-aware electorate might actually look favorably upon a Caitlyn Jenner candidacy.

Does Jenner running help serious Republicans in California? Hardly. The point isn’t to simply humiliate Gavin Newsom (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but to try and pull California back from the brink of all the social and legislative insanity at the state level. There are always going to be deep blue pockets of insanity in California. The question is whether the government at the state level can be more balanced than it currently is. Will a Governor Caitlyn Jenner be able to achieve that? Who knows.

Featured image: Caitlyn Jenner in 2017 via Wikimedia Commons, cropped, CC BY 2.0