Mel Gibson is reportedly “flattered” by the news that he’s the leading Republican candidate to run for California Governor in a new straw poll, but will not be throwing his hat in the ring.
A source close to the 69-year-old actor told TMZ that the “Braveheart” star is “flattered” by getting 12% in the poll amid a recall effort to remove Democrat CA Governor Gavin Newsom following the massive wildfires in southern California, rising crime, and more. But the source also made it clear that Gibson has no interest in the job.
In the Wednesday straw poll from The Lost Coast Outpost, Gibson leads Republicans, beating out Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco who received 11% of the vote, after becoming the only notable Republican candidate to enter the race. Former Vice President Kamala Harris and former congresswoman Katie Porter received 20% and 25% percent of the vote in the same poll that was taken among 2,640 respondents.
Mel Gibson ‘Flattered’ by Governor Poll Favorability, but Has Zero Interest | Click to read more 👇 https://t.co/sCL7fRyuwY
— TMZ (@TMZ) March 18, 2025
“He’s sticking with his day job for now,” Gibson’s publicist, Alan Nierob, told the California Globe following weeks of speculation.
Gibson recently spoke out at a Newsom recall event and blasted the governor over his “gross mismanagement” of the state following the devastating wildfires.
During a press conference in Los Angeles, Gibson told the crowd that both Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass had let them down after the actor became one of the numerous people who lost their homes in the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire.
“Governor Newsom and Karen Bass let us all down,” Gibson said, pointing out how much California residents pay in taxes. “Now for that kind of money, we deserve much more and much better, and there is absolutely no adequate excuse the governor or mayor can make for this gross mismanagement and failure to preemptively deal with what they knew was coming.”
“Was it incompetence? Was it indifference, complacency, carelessness? Was it negligence? Absolutely,” he added, asking the crowd if the mayor or governor “give a damn about you,” to which the crowd replied, “no.” “Newsom … has brought us nothing but rampant crime, acute homelessness, horrendous inflation.”
“I mean, the industry I work in, the film industry, this used to be the Mecca of filmdom. It is no more. All of my fellow citizens who have lost their homes, they have no recourse, no insurance payouts because the carriers dropped them,” Gibson continued, per The Hollywood Reporter.
“Even the carriers realized that California was ill-prepared and had scant resources to deal with the inevitable fires. They knew that. So are we supposed to believe that our elected officials didn’t know that? Of course they knew that. Of course.”
The event, which was organized by Saving California, is focused on recalling Newsom and fixing the state’s economy, per its website.
Related: Mel Gibson Blasts Newsom At Recall Event For Governor
