SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Caitlyn Jenner is arguably one of the biggest names running in the recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom, but name recognition does not seem to be cutting it for her.
Jenner told ABC10 the polls that show her far behind are concerning, but she is not giving up her fight to save California.
"Gavin Newsom is a career politician," Jenner said.
All the recall candidates are quick to call out Newsom on how he handled the pandemic, but what governor did it right?
"I would probably say probably the best of all was Ron Desantis in Florida," Jenner said. "They kept their economies open, and the economy is strong there."
Friday morning, a Florida judge denied Gov. Desantis' attempt to ban local school districts from implementing their own mask mandates. He originally threatened to withhold funding from those that tried.
Jenner was asked if she would do the same here in California.
"That’s up to the local school districts to do," she said. "I believe in personal freedom."
According to the New York Times Data Tracker, Florida is leading in COVID deaths per capita right behind Mississippi and Louisiana. Florida is averaging 242 deaths per day. California is averaging 82.
Jenner is focusing her campaign on issues of immigration and visiting the border wall on a part of her statewide bus tour.
"Actually as we're standing there, five Brazilians come walking across from Brazil," she said. "And turned themselves in. I mean, that's our immigration system."
Newsom recently signed a bill expanding healthcare to undocumented immigrants. ABC10 asked Jenner if she had plans to try and change that.
"First of all, Gavin Newsom, all he does is throw money at these issues," Jenner said.
Jenner did not directly answer the question, so ABC10 asked her again.
"No," Jenner answered. "We need to secure our southern border."
Jenner said she's been a Republican her entire life, but does not like to be confined in that category, describing herself as economically conservative but socially progressive.
When asked if she would welcome an endorsement from Former President Donald Trump, Jenner said no.
"Honestly at this point, first of all, the Republican party did not endorse any candidate, and I supported that," Jenner said. "We don't want infighting. We need to all run our own campaigns."
Jenner has called on Conservative Talk Show Host Larry Elder to drop out of the race.
"How's Larry Elder on women's issues? Right now it doesn't look too good," she said. "His ex-fiancee went on air and accused him of some really tough stuff against women and we can't have that as a governor."
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