Over the last couple of years, one thing has become very clear.

California needs help.

One columnist thinks TV host and hard work enthusiast Mike Rowe would be a great person to lead the state back to greatness.

Rich Karigaard writes at Forbes:

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Mike Rowe for California Governor 2022 Dear Mike, We met once, a decade ago when you emceed an XPRIZE event in San Francisco. We briefly chatted, but you won’t remember me out of the hundreds in the audience that included Robin Williams and Sergey Brin. Many, like me, were impressed by your onstage charisma. As Forbes publisher since 1998, I’ve met many stars in business, finance and entertainment. Surprisingly few have a presence that is both magnetic and appealing. Please consider the following as advice – a plea, actually – from a fan. Mike, please jump in the California governor’s race in 2022. You’re the only candidate who can restore sanity and balance to California’s governance. And you can win. You are this season’s Schwarzenegger, Ventura, Trump. California is cruising for a bruising. The economy is lopsidedly dependent on a shrinking base of major industries. You can count them on one hand: technology (but only tech that scales rapidly from startup to global footprint, along with the vaults of VC money to do so), biotech, entertainment and tourism.

Rowe has not said if he would consider it or not, but he is flattered.

FOX News reports:

Mike Rowe reacts to op-ed calling on him to run for governor of California: ‘It’s flattering’ Amid California’s pressing homeless crisis and exodus of manufacturing jobs, TV host and author Mike Rowe on Friday reacted to a Forbes op-ed calling on him to run for governor of the Golden State in 2022. “It’s very flattering,” Rowe told “Fox & Friends,” noting that he had read the article but stopping short of throwing his hat in the ring… Rowe said that capital gains tax revenues are a disproportionate part of California’s state budget and that homelessness was an issue. “All [capital gains] are tied to real estate and the stock market. Those things are going to come down. When they come down, that money is going to dry up,” he said. “I mean, manufacturing is gone, aerospace is gone, banking is gone, energy is gone.”

California would probably be much better off with a guy like Mike Rowe in charge.

Let’s hope he considers this idea seriously.

Cross posted from American Lookout.