Laurence Allen Elder (born April 27, 1952) is an American conservative political commentator and talk radio host, and lawyer. He hosts The Larry Elder Show, based in California. The show began as a local program on Los Angeles radio station KABC in 1994 and ran until 2008, followed by a second run on KABC from 2010 to 2014. The show was nationally syndicated, first through ABC Radio Networks from 2002 to 2007 and then Salem Media Group from 2015 to 2022. He maintains ties to The Epoch Times, a newspaper published by the new religious movement Falun Gong. While Elder is primarily known as a conservative, he also self-identifies as a "small l libertarian", summarizing his political ideology as "I believe that a government that governs less governs best."
Elder, a former attorney, has written nonfiction books and a nationally syndicated column through Creators Syndicate. He is the author of As Goes California: My Mission to Rescue the Golden State and Save the Nation. In 2021, Elder launched his first run for public office as a Republican candidate in the recall election of California's Democratic governor Gavin Newsom. The recall was defeated by a wide margin, although Elder placed first among the replacement candidates. On April 20, 2023, Elder announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, but dropped out on October 26.
Early life and education
Laurence Allen Elder was born in Los Angeles and grew up in the city's Pico-Union and South Central areas, the middle child of three brothers. His father Randolph (1915–2011), who was born in Athens, Georgia, was a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps during World War II and moved to California from Georgia after the war during the Second Great Migration. After working as a janitor at Nabisco, Randolph Elder opened a cafe in Pico-Union .
After his father's death in 2011, Elder recalled: "Gruff and blunt, my dad often intimidated my two brothers and me. But we never doubted his love or his commitment to his family." In 2013, Elder and his brother Kirk accepted a Congressional Gold Medal from U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher on their father's behalf. Larry Elder's mother Viola (née Conley, 1924–2006) was originally from Toney, Alabama. She was a clerical worker for the United States Department of War during World War II. His father was a Republican, and his mother a Democrat. An honors student who also took advanced courses at Fairfax High School, Elder graduated from Crenshaw High School in 1970 and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1974 from Brown University. He then earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1977.
Career After graduation from law school, Elder joined the Cleveland-based law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey. In 1980, he founded Laurence A. Elder and Associates, a legal executive search firm. Elder stepped down from operating Elder and Associates but continued to own the firm until 1995. Elder's license to practice law in Ohio has been administratively suspended since December 2005, according to The Supreme Court of Ohio Attorney Directory website, which notes not keeping up registration requirements.
Media career
Television, film and video
Elder began co-hosting Fabric, a topic-oriented television show produced by Dennis Goulden that aired on Cleveland's PBS member station WVIZ in 1988. In 1997, he hosted the PBS program National DeskDavid Lewis, Hollywood Star Walk: Larry Elder, Los Angeles Times (April 27, 2015). along with fellow conservatives Fred Barnes and Laura Ingraham.Jerold M. Starr, Air Wars: The Fight to Reclaim Public Broadcasting (Temple University Press, 2001), p. 32. Elder hosted the segments Redefining Racism: Fresh Voices From Black AmericaRedefining racism : fresh voices from black America, WorldCat. and Title IX and Women in Sports: What's Wrong With This Picture, which criticized Title IX.
In 2000, Elder won a Los Angeles Area Emmy Award for his KCAL-TV News special Making Waves – LAUSD. Between 2000 and 2001, Elder hosted the court series Moral Court, distributed by Warner Brothers Television. In 2004, he hosted The Larry Elder Show, a syndicated talk show distributed by Warner Bros.The Larry Elder Show: TV Series, IMDb.Brian Lowry, The Larry Elder Show, Variety (September 19, 2004). In 2005, he created a self-financed film called Michael & Me, in which he offers a rebuttal to filmmaker Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine.
In 2007, Elder was one of the rotating talk hosts auditioning for the slot vacated by the now-canceled Imus in the Morning on MSNBC. However, the job went to Joe Scarborough instead. As of 2024, Elder stars in the animated sitcom The New Norm as Charlie, Norm's like-minded best friend and boss. Elder is a columnist with Creators Syndicate. His newspaper and online column are carried by Investor's Business Daily, World Net Daily, Townhall.com, Jewish World Review and FrontPage Magazine. He hosts a video series published by The Epoch Times.
Radio Elder hosted a weekday evening talk show on Los Angeles talk radio station KABC from 1994 until December 2008. He then launched a daily live podcast as well as a webcast in December 2009. Elder returned to KABC in September 2010. In December 2014, Elder was fired from KABC after one of his afternoon broadcasts. He was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015. In June 2015, Elder joined the lineup of CRN Digital Talk Radio Networks. In August 2015, The Larry Elder Show began national syndication through the Salem Radio Network, including Los Angeles station KRLA.
In a 2020 interview on NPR, Jean Guerrero, said that Elder had told her that he had invited Stephen Miller on his radio show as a guest a total of 69 times, having been impressed with Miller after he had first called in to the show as a high school student. Miller, who cites Elder as an influence, later became a Trump administration official and the architect of Trump's immigration policies. Elder left his Salem Radio afternoon slot as of , after a six-year run. His regular fill-in host, Carl Jackson, who had substituted for Elder's during the latter's run for the California Governor seat, has again been named as the temporary fill-in host until a permanent replacement is named. Elder returned to the Salem Radio Network in August 2024, replacing Brandon Tatum, with the show distributed via the Salem Podcast Network and Salem News Channel.
Writing In the late 1980s, Elder wrote op-eds for local newspapers in Cleveland. In 1998, Elder began writing a nationally syndicated column through Creators Syndicate. Elder wrote a weekly column for the Los Angeles Daily News until April 2012. As of that date, Elder's most recent and final Daily News column was from April 19, 2012. Elder authored several books, including Stupid Black Men and What's Race Got to Do with It?
Political activism
Roll Call reported that Elder contemplated a possible run for the United States Senate against California Senator Barbara Boxer in 2010.
2021 California gubernatorial recall election
In July 2021, Elder announced his candidacy to replace Governor Gavin Newsom in the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election. He said that he was encouraged to run by fellow conservative talk-radio figure Dennis Prager, a mentor to Elder. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber initially omitted Elder's name from the list of candidates to be on the ballot, saying that he failed to submit complete tax return information that was required according to Senate Bill 27, which was enacted in 2019; the law mandated tax return disclosure for both presidential and gubernatorial candidates in order to appear on a "primary" ballot (the presidential requirement was later struck down by the courts). Elder sued, saying that his paperwork was properly submitted and that Weber was required to fix the alleged errors. On July 21, 2021, Judge Laurie Earl of the Sacramento County Superior Court ordered Elder's reinstatement to the recall ballot, holding that Weber improperly disqualified Elder, who had "substantially complied" with disclosure requirements, and that the recall election's tax return disclosure requirements imposed by Secretary of State Weber were invalid, since the special recall election was not a "direct primary election". Weber's office did not appeal the ruling.
After his entry, Elder had been regarded as the front-runner on the election's replacement question. He refused to participate in debates with other Republican recall candidates, such as former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, state Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, and business owner John Cox, and had refused to share a stage with certain other candidates at Republican Party events. Former California Governor Pete Wilson was one of Elder's campaign advisors. If elected governor, Elder pledged to replace one of California's two Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein, with a Republican.
In September 2021, while the recall election was underway, Elder claimed without evidence that there would be "shenanigans" in the voting process. Four days before election day, and before election results were known, a website paid for by Elder's campaign already referred to the election having "twisted results", baselessly stating that analyses "detected fraud in California resulting in Governor Gavin Newsom being reinstated as governor." On the night of the election, after Newsom defeated the recall effort, Elder told his supporters to be "gracious in defeat", stating that "we may have lost the battle, but we are going to win the war", proceeding to repeatedly criticize Newsom. In January 2022, Elder announced that he would not run against Newsom in the state's gubernatorial election later that year, and would instead focus on a new political action committee called "Elder for America" in order to help Republicans win back the House and Senate.
2024 presidential election
Over a year after the recall, Elder began floating the idea of running for president. On April 20, 2023, Elder officially announced his candidacy for president of the United States in the 2024 election. During a television appearance announcing his decision, Elder said "My father was a World War II vet, He served on the island of Guam. He was a Marine. My older brother, late older brother, Kirk, was in the Navy during the Vietnam era. My little brother Dennis actually served in Vietnam in the Army. I'm the only one who didn't serve, and I don't feel good about that. I feel I have a moral, religious and a patriotic duty to give back to a country that's been so good to my family and me. And that is why I am doing this." According to Elder, "America is in decline, but this decline is not inevitable. We can enter a new American Golden Age, but we must choose a leader who can bring us there. That's why I'm running for President."
While Elder announced his candidacy on Fox News, he appeared to break the news to the Washington Examiner one week earlier, on April 14, 2023. Since announcing his candidacy, Elder has appeared on various cable news shows, podcasts, and other media platforms to make his case for the presidency, including The Breakfast Club and Valuetainment's PBD Podcast. Elder claims "America is in decline, but this decline is not inevitable". He has made addressing crime a campaign priority, criticizing district attorneys with connections to billionaire George Soros for failing to "protect people and property". Elder is known for highlighting crime rates in cities like Chicago, Illinois. As a member of the Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys, he is also critical of the Biden administration for "portraying black males as victims" and "ignoring the root causes of their struggles," accusing Democrats of "turning their backs on the very people they claim to support."