Elder Wins In Court: CA Must Put Him On Recall Ballot

Larry Elder won his court challenge yesterday against California Secretary of State Shirley Weber who now must place him on the list of candidates in the Sept. 14 election to recall Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The charismatic conservative talk show host sued Weber after she excluded him from the list of 41 candidates to replace Newsom should voters choose to recall him.

Weber claimed Elder allegedly failed to file complete tax returns. Elder’s campaign denied that contending he had turned in five years of tax returns on time. Elder’s campaign argued that the law requiring candidates to submit tax returns did not apply to recalls. Elder also noted the Secretary of State had exempted Newsom from the requirement, saying he was not a candidate. Judge Laurie Earl agreed, saying she was “not convinced” that section of the election code applied to recalls and if it did she was “inclined to find the Mr. Elder substantially complied.”

Elder was born in Los Angeles and grew up in the South-Central area, graduating from Crenshaw High School in 1970. He went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in political science from Brown University and his juris doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School. He eventually founded his own executive search firm before launching his television and radio talk show career.