Neither Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, nor Republican candidates Caitlyn Jenner and Larry Elder will be on the stage next week for the first gubernatorial debate in California’s recall election set for Sept. 14.
The debate, which is scheduled for next Wednesday, Aug. 4, at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, is being co-hosted by FOX11, the FOX affiliate in Los Angeles.
Elder will be attending a fundraiser in Bakersfield, California, which his campaign said the conservative talk radio host had committed to before the debate date was set. Elder announced his candidacy two weeks ago, just ahead of the filing deadline to get on the ballot.
Jenner, who launched her campaign in April, also has a scheduling conflict. The 1976 Olympic gold medal winning decathlete turned transgender rights activist and nationally known TV personality is currently in Australia, on what her campaign described as a work obligation. But the campaign wouldn’t confirm or deny that the candidate had traveled to Australia for a lucrative deal to appear in the reality TV program “Big Brother VIP.”
“I have had this on the books, this show that I’m doing down here in Australia, for months and months,” Jenner told Fox News in an interview last week. But she defended her trip, saying, “I’m not like most politicians, I actually honor my contract.”
Jenner said that she’d be back in California in time for the start of an Aug. 12 statewide bus tour campaign, which kicks off just a couple of days before ballots in the recall election get mailed out to Golden State voters.
