By Adam Edelman - NBC News
Caitlyn Jenner, former Olympic athlete, reality star and transgender activist, reported this Friday that she will run for governor of California, before the impeachment process facing the current Democratic leader, Gavin Newsom.
In a press release posted on Twitter, Jenner, a longtime Republican, said she will make a "formal announcement" in the "next few weeks," presenting herself as a "compassionate disruptor" who will campaign on "solutions." providing a roadmap back to prosperity "for the state.
"California has been my home for almost 50 years. I came here because I knew that anyone, regardless of origin or position in life, could make their dreams come true. But over the past decade we have seen the flash of the Golden State become a reality. seen downsized by a one-party government that puts politics before progress and special interests over the people. Sacramento needs an honest leader with a clear vision, "said Jenner.
Jenner's campaign page also went live on Friday morning.
Axios was the first outlet to report the news.
Jenner, the stepmother of the famous Kardashian clan, had been considering entering the race for governor if a petition to overturn California Governor Gavin Newsom was voted on.
Organizers of the revocation have said they have collected more than two million signatures, well above the 1.5 million needed to reach the necessary threshold.
Counties have until the end of the month to verify signatures and report their counts to elections officials.
The state Department of Finance will take about 30 days to produce an estimate of the election costs before a legislative panel reviews the results.
Only then will the voting date be set.
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If the impeachment is formally put on the ballot, voters will be asked two questions: the first would be whether they want to remove Newsom, and the second would be who should replace him.
There is no limit to the number of people who can appear, and whoever gets the most votes will win.
Jenner may be the first in a long line of famous candidates that could be a reflection of the 2003 recall process, when adult film star Mary Carey, child ex-actor Gary Coleman, and Hustler editor Larry Flynt added their names to the list of more than 100 candidates for governor.
Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger finally won the election with 49% of the vote.
Like Schwarzenegger, Jenner's path to politics has been unconventional.
Jenner first rose to fame as an Olympic medal-winning decathlete in the 1970s.
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Years later, he became a household name again after marrying the Kardashian family and participating for years on the reality show
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
, which documents their lives.
Jenner was married to Kris Jenner, whose children from a previous marriage were Kim and Chloe Kardashian, from 1991 to 2015.
The Jenners' children also appeared on the show.
Among them are Kendall Jenner, a supermodel, and Kylie, a cosmetic mogul who was once one of the youngest billionaires in the world.
Jenner announced that she is a transgender woman in April 2015. She starred in her own reality show, called
I am Cait
in 2016.
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Jenner supported former President Donald Trump in the 2016 election, but two years later wrote in an editorial in The Washington Post: "I was wrong."
"The reality is that the trans community is being relentlessly attacked by this president," he wrote.
Despite her resignation from Trump, pro-LGBTQ groups were quick to criticize Jenner for her entry into the race on Friday, citing her previous support.
"Make no mistake: We can't wait to elect a #trans governor of California. But @Caitlyn_Jenner spent years telling the # LGBTQ + community to trust Donald Trump. We saw how that turned out," Equality wrote on its Twitter account. California.
