Caitlyn Jenner, previously known as Bruce Jenner, is running for governor of California. This isn’t the first time Caitlyn has been in the spotlight. Caitlyn Jenner is a transgender woman. Wikipedia says that Caitlyn Jenner had always felt these feelings of gender dysmorphia. She struggled throughout her whole life with her identity. Before she transitioned, she was Bruce Jenner. Bruce Jenner was born on October 28, 1949, and was an American decathlete who won a gold medal at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal with a record-breaking score of 8,618 points. After the triumphant victory at the Olympics, Bruce married Chrystie Crownover (m. 1972; div. 1981) Linda Thompson (m. 1981; div. 1986) and Kris Kardashian (m. 1991; div. 2015). Six children resulted from the marriages.

Her most popular marriage was with Kris Jenner. Kris and Bruce were on a TV show called Keeping up with the Kardashians and had a very public relationship.  After Kris Jenner and Bruce divorced in 2015, Bruce started exploring his identity. Maddie Lynn, an avid Keeping up with the Kardashian watcher, said, “It was hard for the Kardashian/Jenner family to deal with his transition.” 

Bruce Jenner underwent cosmetic surgery, and ultimately completed sex reassignment surgery in January 2017. Jenner’s gender transition is the subject of I Am Cait. She was an executive producer of the show. The show focuses on Jenner’s transition and how it affects her relationships with her family and friends. Jenner’s memoir, The Secrets of My Life, was published on April 25, 2017. Lately Caitlyn has been interested in politics. 

Caitlyn Jenner has many different political views than many people were expecting. She is a Christian, leans towards political conservatism, and is a Republican. She describes herself as socially liberal and fiscally conservative. 

On her reality show, Caitlyn Jenner said that “although she does not support Donald Trump, she thinks he would be good for women’s issues;” she then stated she would “never support Hillary Clinton.” Jenner said she was in favor of same-sex marriage. 

In early April 2021 she was considering running for Governor of California in the 2021 recall gubernatorial election as a Republican. In May 2021, Caitlyn decided to run for governor. Since her decision to run she has continuously stated that trans girls should not be allowed to compete in girls’ sports at school, backing Republican Party views on transgender people in sports. These comments lead to criticism among the trans and LGBTQ+ community. Jenner restated her views on Twitter, stating “it’s an issue of fairness and we need to protect girls’ sports in our schools.” 

Caitlyn Jenner’s announcement that she is running for governor of CA is not the first time we have seen celebrities try to get involved in politics. On July 4, 2020, Kanye announced his presidential election campaign. On July 16, 2020, the campaign filed a Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. Many people in Williamsburg joked about Kanye being president. Connor Rice, a junior in high school says, “Kanye 2020.”  Many other young adults thought Kanye running for president was funny and a joke. “He collected a shocking 60,000 votes after his lose he tweeted “Kanye 2024″. Kanye and Caitlyn were closely related to each other because they were intertwined into the Kardashian family. This relationship could cause everyone to not take Caitlyn as a serious candidate for governor. Arnold Schwarzenegger is another celebrity that got involved in the political world. Schwarzenegger was an actor, producer, businessman, and retired bodybuilder. He is most known for staring in the movie, Terminator. He served as the 38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011. Wikipedia says that “the governor opposed the federal government’s effort to build fencing on the Mexico–United States border and likened it to the Berlin Wall.”

In 2006, Schwarzenegger made several efforts to address global warming by signing the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and negotiating the creation of a carbon emissions trading market with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. By year’s end, the governor called on the federal government to give a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.” A Lafayette student that is involved in politics, Abbey Touron says that “Schwarzenegger was an influential governor.” Because Schwarzenegger was considered a great governor, it helps Caitlyn in her journey to become governor of California. Caitlyn has a many things going for her but also things going against her.  So, the decision is now up to the people of California to decide if Caitlyn Jenner will be their next governor.