'It's A Shame': Caitlyn Jenner Gets Only 1.1% Of California Recall Vote

Caitlyn Jenner will not be California's new governor after losing with an underwhelming vote count of just 1.1 percent. The former Olympian and TV personality seems to have failed to capture the favor of her state in her bid to replace incumbent California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. Newsom, on the other hand, received about 5.8 million votes to keep him in his current position and was declared the winner soon after the polls closed, as per PEOPLE. "Tonight I'm humble, grateful," Newsom said after the failure of the Republican-backed effort to recall him as governor. 

“I am a proven winner and the only outsider who can put an end to Gavin Newsom’s disastrous time as governor,” Jenner had said at the time of her entry as a candidate, as per VOX. “Californians want better and deserve better from their governor.” She had led the campaign against him based on his response to the pandemic situation after he flouted his own public health mandates. The Republicans tried to paint him as someone ineffective, uncaring, and unwilling to follow his own rules, in their attempt to recall. But the message, carried by Jenner does not seem to have resonated with the public.

Jenner has not taken her loss well and in a clip from CBS News she lashes out at her upsetting defeat. "He didn't campaign on not one of his successes, because he doesn't have any," she stated. "I can't believe that this many people actually voted to keep him in office. It's a shame, honestly, it's a shame. You kind of get the government you deserve." Rehashing her status as an "outsider" she added, "I've been around politics a long time, but never actually running for office. And I thought I really needed some great people to surround me, to help me get through this, that know the ins and outs of politics. And I was able to assemble a great team, a great group of people." She thanked them for giving her the guidance to find out where the issues are, what do they had to fight for.

In the end, she received a total of 59,097. But with 78 percent of the votes counted, over 63 percent have voted against the recall of Newsom as per The New York Times. Jenner would not have made the cut to replace Newsom. Larry Elder, a conservative talk radio host, currently leads the poll. Just before the polls opened, Jenner had stated in an interview, "For me, it's just so up in the air [with] what is going to happen. I'm hoping for the best. Number one, we gotta get Gavin Newsom outta there. I think it's going to be difficult doing that, but I'm hoping for the best."

She added, as per Newsweek, "Honestly, every place I go—I mean, on the street, here and there—the people, they're all coming up to me and saying, 'We gotta get rid of this guy. We gotta recall Gavin Newsom.' I've only had one person come up to me in the last five months and say, 'I think he's doing a great job.' That just doesn't happen. Everybody knows he's doing a horrible job." But Jenner, 71, has not seen the last of politics yet. “That's one of the things I will continue to fight for in the future: Is the Republican Party being more moderate and more inclusive to people? No matter what happens on this campaign, I will continue that fight,” she stated, according to The Washington Post.

California is a Democratic state and has not elected a Republican to statewide office since 2006, according to CNN. It has not cast its electoral votes for a Republican presidential candidate since George H. W. Bush carried the Golden State in 1988. It will take more than Jenner's stardom to secure a Republican win in the state.