Who Is Kevin Kiley And What Would He Do As Governor?

‘We had hundreds of people dying every day’

While most of the Republican candidates have reserved their sharpest criticism of Newsom for his many pandemic restrictions, Kiley also took issue with the state’s slow early rollout of the vaccine in the first months of this year.

“We had hundreds of people dying every day, and the governor didn’t prioritize seniors,” Kiley said. “And then when we did make them eligible, it was just a complete mess.”

Though the Newsom administration made Californians aged 65 and older eligible for the vaccine in mid-January, health care workers and nursing home residents came first.

Now that there is more than enough vaccine supply to go around, Kiley, like his competitors, opposes inoculation mandates. In April, he introduced legislation that would have banned local and state governments from introducing such requirements. It went nowhere. But under a Kiley administration, “bodily autonomy will be respected,” he said. 

‘Education establishment…is unwilling to serve students’

Another area where Kiley agrees with other Republicans on the ballot: California’s public school system is broken, teachers’ unions are to blame and the best solution is to give parents more choice. 

In practice, Kiley said, that would mean giving families the ability to send their children to a charter school or even a private school, funded with public dollars. 

“Gavin Newsom came into office and his top priority was simply to reward his top campaign donor, the California Teachers Association,” Kiley said. “We’ve seen that the education establishment in California is unwilling to serve students, and so I think we need a paradigmatic shift.”

‘It’s not going to make a difference’

This year, Newsom and the Legislature set aside $12 billion to help the state tackle one of its  most persistent problems: Homelessness and the cost of housing.  

Kiley is not impressed. “We have thrown more and more money at homelessness with no positive impact,” he said. “Other states are not having the problem like we are, and so we can look at what’s worked elsewhere and we can do the same thing here.”

That line of argument — that the state’s biggest crises don’t warrant more spending, but smarter spending — is a consistent critique of Kiley’s. But aside from calling for superior leadership and better oversight, Kiley’s proposals to get unhoused people into shelters and more permanent housing are not dramatically different from current policy. 

‘I know where the power resides’ 

If there’s one thing that distinguishes Kiley from his Republican rivals, it’s his resume. Unlike Elder and Cox, who proudly describe themselves as outsiders, or Faulconer, whose governing experience comes from local politics, Kiley has served in the state Assembly since 2017.

“I know the ways that legislators try to stop good legislation while avoiding accountability, I know the tricks that are used to change bills into something that they weren’t before,” he said.

But understanding the governing process is one thing. Getting things done with a Legislature where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than three-to-one is another.

Kiley said a successful recall could do wonders to get the Legislature’s bipartisan juices flowing.

“One thing that legislators are wary of is losing their job,” he noted. “If they’ve just seen that even the governor has lost his job, then I think that will create an entirely new environment.”