A California judge ruled Wednesday that conservative talk radio host Larry Elder be reinstated to the ballot in the recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom after finding he had complied with the state’s legal requirements.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Laurie Earl found in favor of the nationally syndicated radio host just hours before California Secretary of State Shirley Weber was scheduled to finalize the list of certified candidates to be on the ballot for the Sept. 14 recall election.

In her ruling, Earl agreed with Elder that Weber wrongly excluded him from the list of candidates because he had redacted personal information on his required financial disclosure documents.

In the suit, the radio host argued that the disclosure rules do not apply to recall elections but rather only to primary election ballots, and the judge concurred.

“I don’t find that the recall election is a direct primary election ballot,” Earl ruled. “I don’t find that Mr. Elder was required to file tax returns at all.”

“This isn’t just a victory for me, but a victory for the people of California,” Elder said in a tweet. “And not just those who favor the recall and support me, but all voters, including many who will come to know me. I am thankful for a fair judge.”

Elder was one the last candidates to jump into race, announcing he was running only last week. He is one of 42 who will be listed on the ballot for the recall election, which prompted by residents who oppose Newsom’s lockdown measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The effort was kickstarted in February of last year with a petition seeking to unseat Newsom over his implementation of laws that are “detrimental to the citizens of this state and our way of life.”

Newsom has described the recall election as a Republican-led effort of those who oppose immigration and immigrants and that it “threatens our values” while seeking to undo the state’s fight against the pandemic.

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