27 January 2021 11:31 am
Chamath Palihapitiya, Sri Lankan-born Canadian-American billionaire investor and CEO of venture capital firm Social Capital, has announced new details about a potential run for California governor on Tuesday, Business Insider reported.
Palihapitiya, a former Facebook Inc. executive, promoted the recall campaign, sparked in part by the Democratic governor’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, in a tweet Monday night. Palihapitiya used the hashtag #RecallGavinNewsom and posted a link to a new website for the billionaire’s gubernatorial bid.
“California is a mess—it’s too expensive, our teachers are underpaid, and our schools aren’t good enough,” reads Palihapitiya’s one-page campaign website. His platform calls for the elimination of state tax, a $70,000 salary for teachers and a payment of $2,000 for each child born in California. Many proposals emphasize keeping people and business in California after the state’s population declined for the first time since at least 1900.
The recall campaign had been propelled by followers of QAnon and other extremists, according to the Los Angeles Times. It faces long odds of succeeding in the Democrat-dominated state. It needs 1.5 million certified signatures, or 12% of the initial vote turnout, to force a special election for governor. State Republicans have tried and failed five times to force a recall election, each time before the pandemic.