Former State Sen. Gloria Romero (D-East Los Angeles), a prominent Democrat and the first woman ever to serve as Senate Majority Leader in California, has endorsed conservative radio host Larry Elder over incumbent Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

Newsom faces a Sep. 14 recall election, with Elder leading most recent polls among the many contenders to replace him. He has made school choice and school reform central pillars of his campaign. Both issues are important to Romero.

In a video reported by Laurel Rosenhall of CalMatters.org, Romero explains that she believes in charter schools and school choice. “So does Larry Elder. But not Gavin Newsom,” she explains. “He shut our public schools while he sent his kids to private school.”

“Yes, I’m a Democrat,” she concludes. “But the recall of Newsom is not about political party. It’s about Newsom. Larry Elder for governor.”

Romero was a major figure in California politics and a prominent supporter of Barack Obama’s candidacy for president.

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama holds the hand of California State Sen. Gloria Romero while waving to the crowd after his speech to the California Democratic Convention in San Diego, Saturday, April 28, 2007. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

The Daily Wire notes: “In 2008, Romero stepped down as Majority Leader and became chairman of the Education Committee, where she authored a ‘parent trigger’ law that was passed, making California the first state to adopt such a law. It permitted a majority of parents in a failing school to vote as to how to restructure the school.”

Romero has tweeted several times in support of Elder:

She is also member of the adjunct faculty at the Pepperdine School of Public Policy, where her bio reads, in part:

A forceful advocate for education reform and parental school choice, former California State Senator Gloria Romero (D-East Los Angeles) is the Founder/Executive Director of Scholarship Prep Charter School located in Santa Ana, CA. A TK-8th grade charter school, Scholarship Prep was established as a countywide-benefit charter school with a strategic focus on closing the achievement gap for high poverty and foster youth using Project-based learning.

Prior to establishing Scholarship Prep Charter School, Romero was elected to the 24th Senate District in 2001, representing East Los Angeles and the greater San Gabriel Valley. Upon her election she was recognized as one of the hardest working members of the Legislature and quickly rose in leadership positions. She was elected by her peers to serve as Senate Democratic Caucus Chair and as Senate Majority Leader the first woman to ever hold that leadership position in the history of the California State Senate. Prior to serving in the Senate, she held the post of Majority Whip in the California State Assembly from 1998-2000 and served on the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees from 1995-1998 and the Los Angeles Elected Charter Reform Commission in 1998. Additionally, she held the post of California Director of Democrats for Education Reform, a political action committee dedicated to making reforms in the Democratic Party.

Recent polls of likely voters have shown that a majority of Latino voters want to recall Newsom.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.