Michael Shellenberger was a self-described young radical who studied in Nicaragua with the Sandinistas and advocated for drug legalisation and needle exchange programmes.
The Berkeley author and activist quit the Democratic Party last year, horrified by its embrace of "wokeism" Shellenberger is running as an independent in his second long-shot effort for governor.
and the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies shows he's running third, with Gov. Gavin Newsom comfortably ahead of all his competitors in Tuesday's top-two primary.
Shellenberger claimed the surge in overdose fatalities and progressives' acceptance of addiction prompted his ideological turnaround.
Shellenberger: "It felt like they were saying we shouldn't encourage overcoming hardship." "Psychologically unhealthy"