Jon Slavet, GOP tech entrepreneur, enters race for California governor

Republican Jon Slavet, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, introduced Thursday that he was becoming a member of the crowded subject of candidates operating for governor subsequent yr to switch termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Slavet, 58, a former longtime Democrat who has by no means run for political workplace beforehand, stated in an interview on Thursday that he believed that his enterprise background supplied the very best basis to repair the state’s issues — poverty, homelessness, unemployment, vitality prices — primarily based on conversations with California voters.

“We’re first in the entire mistaken issues,” Slavet stated. “I’m an entrepreneur and an government and a doer. I’ve constructed a number of firms through the years, and my bent is to do and to construct and to make things better.

“I’m not going to take a seat by whereas California goes deeper into the ditch. I’ve a specific background that’s actually related for getting concerned,” he added. “So after I have a look at California and I have a look at the federal government, what I’ve realized is [that] the subtext is that now we have government-made issues. In California, they’re man-made issues. And it’s extremely irritating to know that, and it’s additionally inspiring, as a result of we will change management. We are able to change coverage and seriously change the trajectory of the state.”

Slavet joins a crowded subject of candidates vying to turn out to be the chief of the nation’s most populous state and the world’s fourth-largest financial system.

For greater than twenty years, gubernatorial elections in California have been dominated by outstanding personalities on either side of the aisle, equivalent to Newsom and former Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a worldwide superstar, and Jerry Brown, a California political icon.

However the 2026 subject is extra staid, making the result of the race troublesome to foretell. Practically a dozen notable Democrats and Republicans are operating to switch Newsom, who can not search reelection due to time period limits. Not one of the candidates operating for governor subsequent yr has the star energy of California’s current leaders, making a wild, unpredictable election in one of many nation’s most costly states during which to wage a marketing campaign.

The multimillionaire, who has contributed $100,000 to his newly shaped marketing campaign committee, confirmed that he deliberate on spending at the very least seven figures on his bid.

“I’ll put in what it takes to be aggressive,” he stated.

Proposition 50, the redrawing of California congressional districts authorised by voters in November, which can increase Democrats’ possibilities to win management of Congress subsequent yr, prompted Slavet to run.

Slavet has lived in California for 3 a long time, at the moment residing in Palo Alto along with his household. He beforehand labored in media, together with at Wired.com, the web site of a print journal that presciently targeted on how know-how was altering the world.

He then turned a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, co-founding Guru.com, a web site that connects firms with high-tech staff looking for short-term gigs; main the upscale housing web site Sentral.com; working as an government on the coworking-space-creator WeWork; and serving as a board member of the Silicon Valley Management Group.

Slavet faces a tough path to the governor’s mansion. No Republican has been elected statewide in California since 2006, and the state’s voters has grown extra liberal since then. And there are two more-prominent Republicans within the race — Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and conservative commentator Steve Hilton.

Additionallly, Slavet didn’t vote for Trump within the final three presidential elections, although he lauds the president’s file.

“I believe Trump is sensible. I believe he’s a doer. I believe he will get s— accomplished,” Slavet stated. “I believe that America wanted a shake-up. Now we have a really calcified system of presidency spending, lack of execution. So I believe Trump’s accomplished large good.”

Slavet has extra private wealth than his GOP rivals. However California voters have a protracted historical past of rejecting wealthy, self-funding candidates of both get together. And there are wealthier folks within the race or eyeing it.

Billionaire Tom Steyer, a Democratic local weather warrior and hedge-fund founder who just lately introduced his gubernatorial bid, has already put $20 million into his marketing campaign effort. Fellow billionaire Rick Caruso, who spent greater than $104 million — largely his personal cash — on an unsuccessful 2022 Los Angeles mayoral marketing campaign, is pondering operating for governor subsequent yr or operating once more for mayor.