FILE -- In this July 13, 2021 file photo radio talk show host Larry Elder speaks to supporters during a campaign stop in Norwalk, Calif. Elder has announced his candidacy for governor in the Sept. 14 recall election but the California Secretary of State's office has rejected his candidacy saying Elder, a Republican, filed incomplete tax returns that are required to run. Elder is challenging the decision. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

Radio host Larry Elder files lawsuit over California ballot

by · The Columbian

LOS ANGELES — Conservative talk radio host Larry Elder has filed a lawsuit challenging a decision by California election officials to block him from running in the state’s Sept. 14 recall election, saying he’s the target of political “shenanigans” by Sacramento Democrats.

The Republican Elder said in a statement issued late Monday that he filed all the necessary paperwork to qualify to run in the election that could remove Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom from office, including over 300 pages of tax returns that are required to become a candidate. But the secretary of state’s office did not include Elder on a preliminary list of 41 candidates issued last weekend, saying he filed incomplete information on those returns connected to redaction issues.

Elder’s campaign said he filed suit Monday seeking an order from state Superior Court in Sacramento requiring Secretary of State Shirley Weber to list Elder as a candidate on the final certified list of candidates, scheduled to be issued Wednesday.

“We’ve complied with everything the secretary of state has required of us,” said Elder, a popular voice on the political right whose show is nationally syndicated. “The politicians in Sacramento know I’m the only candidate who can beat Gavin Newsom. They are afraid, and they are using whatever shenanigans they can to try to trip me up. It won’t work.”

“Frankly, this action by the secretary of state is not simply unfair and absurd but a dangerous and unconstitutional precedent,” said Elder, who also is an attorney.

Meanwhile, the agency on Tuesday added another name to the list, making it 42 candidates. It wasn’t immediately clear why Democrat Armando “Mando” Perez-Serrato was a late addition.

If Elder fails to make the ballot, it would be a setback for recall organizers who hoped for a large field of prominent candidates to attract voters. When Elder announced his candidacy July 12, he immediately became one of the most recognized Republicans in the race, given his years on talk radio and frequent appearances on Fox News.

In a statement, Weber’s office said the agency applies the same criteria to each candidate that seeks an elected office.

The list of candidates issued “did not include Mr. Elder and others that failed to comply with those requirements. This is the first election where the gubernatorial candidate tax-disclosure law has been applied.”

Elder is facing a narrow window of time for the court to make a change. With the election less than two months away, local election officials already are arranging for ballots to be printed. Mail-in ballots go out next month.