Academy Award winning black Republican to take on Newsom in CA gubernatorial race

"I've seen enough of California's decline under Gavin Newsom," said Webber in a tweet. "I am officially running against Gavin Newsom to be the next Governor of California."

Webber ran to become the representative for California's 37th congressional district in 2020. The race was won by incumbent Democratic Rep. Karen Bass.

He immigrated to the USA from Jamaica with his family in 2002 when he was 15 years old.

Webber has worked as a documentary filmmaker. A documentary film he shot in Africa, "Music by Prudence," won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject in 2010. "Music by Prudence" is about a group of Zimbabwean Afro-fusion musicians with disabilities.

He has since been commissioned to produce or shoot documentary and narrative films for educational institutions and non-profits. His documentary film work explores topics such as health care, education, the criminal justice system, and human rights.

He said California deserves an innovator like him who will deliver actionable solutions and the results they deserve. His time spent working as a documentary filmmaker has allowed him to investigate and understand challenges people face in their communities. He said he believes he is ready to deliver solutions with goals to correct the socio-economic problems that California has been dealing with.

Webber said he is running because Newsom and the Democrat-controlled state legislature have become comfortable with causing problems for California. He hopes to unify Democrats and Republicans to find a clear path forward and improve people's quality of life.

His policies consist of creating legislation to expand new economic opportunities, cutting taxes and red tape for small businesses, making health care more affordable, and improving the American government's national security initiatives and immigration system.

He wants to give back to the country that provided him the opportunity to succeed.

This announcement comes after Newsom was spotted at a French restaurant not following COVID-19 protocols in November. No one at his table was wearing a mask or social distancing.

A petition has been started to recall Newsom. The creators of the petition said they want to see Newsom recalled because of unaffordable housing, record homelessness, rising crime, failing schools, independent contractors being thrown out of work, exploding pension debt, and lockdown measures. The petition has until March 17 to reach about 1.5 million signatures to require a recall election.