Conservative Brown Grad is Controversial Frontrunner to be Next Governor of California

Conservative Brown Grad is Controversial Frontrunner to be Next Governor of California

Brown University in Providence might have the reputation of being a bastion of liberalism, but alumnus Larry Elder -- a conservative talk radio host -- is emerging as a leading candidate to be the next Governor of California.

Brown's rich history of famous liberal alums includes Amy Carter, John F. Kennedy, Jr., Congressman David Cicilline, and former Democratic Party Chair Tom Perez.

However, maybe less publicized is that there have been a significant number of high-profile conservatives beyond Elder who called Brown home.

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That list includes a central figure in Watergate, Charles “Chuck” Colson, who was special counsel to President Richard Nixon, as well as Republican politicians such as former George W. Bush administration appointee and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. He headed up Brown’s college GOP group before graduating in 1992.  And then there is American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell who also attended Brown.

Brown's Latest Conservative Star

Elder, a 1974 Brown University graduate, who has been a mainstay of conservative California AM radio for decades, has “drawn criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike,” reported the New York Times this week. 

“Undocumented immigrants? Deport them. Affirmative action? End it. Equal pay? The glass ceiling doesn’t exist,” writes the NYT of Elder’s views -- which in general, don't meet those of Brown students today. 

“Brown is famous for its incredibly liberal student body. In 2016, only 1.8 percent of students said they planned on voting for President Donald Trump; more students supported Green Party candidate Jill Stein. In 2006, the most recent year for which data is available, a mere five percent of the student body identified as Republican,” wrote Brown Daily Herald Columnist Jonathan Douglas in 2020.

But Brown also has a history of churning out not just Republican and Democratic politicians — American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell also attended Brown.

READ: Curious Case of Patriarca Crime Family and American Nazi Party - Both Led By Providence Men

In 1966, Rockwell was scheduled to return to Brown University, but a student group withdrew a speaking invitation to Rockwell, “after criticism from Dr. Ray L. Heffner the university's new president,” reported the NYT that year. 

 

About Elder

‘Now Mr. Elder, a Los Angeles Republican who bills himself as ‘the sage from South Central,’ could end up as the next governor of the nation’s most populous state. As the campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom has become a dead heat among likely voters, Mr. Elder has emerged almost overnight as the front-runner in the campaign to replace him,” the NYT continues.  “Fueled by a combination of arcane recall rules, name recognition and partisan desperation, his rise to the top of a pack of some four dozen challengers has stunned and unnerved many in both parties.”

The election deadline in California is just weeks away — September 14. 

Elder, who grew up in California, was “admitted to Brown under an early affirmative action program,” reports the NYT. 

Now, he is front and center in the Wild West of California politics. 

Edler's comments about women -- and more -- have been the subject of articles focusing on his controversies, from the LA Times -- to Fox LA. 

 

“California will be fine if Larry Elder becomes Governor,” wrote Tyler Cowen for Bloomberg this week. “A conservative Republican radio host won’t be able to do much in a state-controlled by liberals. But he might jolt the state’s Democrats out of their dogmatic slumbers.”