John H. Cox

John H. Cox
Cox in 2017
Personal details
Born
John Kaplan

(1955-07-15) July 15, 1955 (age 69)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyRepublican (2000–present)
Other political
affiliations
Democratic (before 2000)
Spouse(s)Nancy (divorced)
Sarah Cox
Children4
EducationUniversity of Illinois, Chicago
(BA)
Illinois Institute of Technology
(JD)
WebsiteCampaign website

John Herman Cox ( Kaplan; born July 15, 1955) is an American businessman, housing developer, and political activist, who has run for public office several times, mostly recently for Governor of California as a Republican Party candidate.[1][2]

Cox began his political career as a Democrat, as he ran to be a delegate to that party's 1976 National Convention. He later became a Republican in Illinois, running for a congressional seat in 2000, United States Senate in 2002, Cook County Recorder of Deeds in 2004, and President of the United States in 2008.

After moving to California, he proposed the California is not for Sale initiative to combat corruption. Cox became the Republican nominee in the 2018 California gubernatorial election, after placing second in the state's June 5 nonpartisan blanket primary.[3] On November 6, 2018, he lost to Democrat Gavin Newsom in the state's biggest gubernatorial landslide since 1950.[4][5] Cox was a candidate in the unsuccessful 2021 California gubernatorial recall election, placing 5th with a total of 4.4% of the vote.

  1. ^ Lucas, Scott (October 21, 2018). "John Cox and the Sad State of California's GOP: Republicans have become so disempowered in the state that their gubernatorial nominee is an Illinoisan who has lost every race he's run". Politico Magazine. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  2. ^ "Republican Cox opens run for governor with ad hitting rival". AP NEWS. February 8, 2021.
  3. ^ Joe Garofoli (June 5, 2018). "Gavin Newsom, John Cox to face off in fall CA governor's race". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  4. ^ Brown, Willie (June 9, 2018). "Gavin Newsom strolling into California governor's job? John Cox may surprise". SFChronicle.com.
  5. ^ FoxNews, "Gavin Newsom wins California's governor's race, John Cox concedes" Nov 6, 2018 [1]