Larry Elder

His father Randolph (1915–2011), who was born in Athens, Georgia, was a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps during World War II and moved to California from Georgia after the war during the Second Great Migration.

Larry Elder's mother Viola (née Conley, 1924–2006) was originally from Toney, Alabama.

She was a clerical worker for the United States Department of War during World War II.

His father was a Republican, and his mother a Democrat.

Laurence Allen Elder (born April 27, 1952) is an American conservative political commentator and talk radio host.

Elder hosts The Larry Elder Show, based in California.

After working as a janitor at Nabisco, Randolph Elder opened a cafe in Pico-Union c. 1962.

An honors student who also took advanced courses at Fairfax High School, Elder graduated from Crenshaw High School in 1970 and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1974 from Brown University.

He then earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1977.

After graduation from law school, Elder joined the Cleveland-based law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey.

In 1980, he founded Laurence A. Elder and Associates, a legal executive search firm.

Elder stepped down from operating Elder and Associates c. 1987 but continued to own the firm until 1995.

Elder began co-hosting Fabric, a topic-oriented television show produced by Dennis Goulden that aired on Cleveland's PBS member station WVIZ in 1988.

The show began as a local program on Los Angeles radio station KABC in 1993 and ran until 2008, followed by a second run on KABC from 2010 to 2014.

Elder hosted a weekday evening talk show on Los Angeles talk radio station KABC from 1994 until December 2008.

In 1997, he hosted the PBS program National Desk along with fellow conservatives Fred Barnes and Laura Ingraham.

Elder hosted the segments Redefining Racism: Fresh Voices From Black America and Title IX and Women in Sports: What's Wrong With This Picture, which criticized Title IX.

In 2000, Elder won a Los Angeles Area Emmy Award for his KCAL-TV News special Making Waves – LAUSD.

Between 2000 and 2001, Elder hosted the court series Moral Court, distributed by Warner Brothers Television.

The show is nationally syndicated, first through ABC Radio Networks from 2002 to 2007 and then Salem Media Group from 2015 to 2022.

He maintains ties to The Epoch Times, a far-right newspaper published by the Falun Gong movement.

Elder, a former attorney, has written nonfiction books and a nationally syndicated column through Creators Syndicate.

He is the author of As Goes California: My Mission to Rescue the Golden State and Save the Nation.

In 2021, Elder launched his first run for public office, as a Republican candidate in the recall election of California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom.

The recall was defeated by a wide margin, although Elder placed first among the replacement candidates.

On April 20, 2023, Elder announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, and dropped out on October 26.

Laurence Allen Elder was born in Los Angeles and grew up in the city's Pico-Union and South Central areas, the middle child of three brothers.

In 2004, he hosted The Larry Elder Show, a syndicated talk show distributed by Warner Bros.

Elder's license to practice law in Ohio has been administratively suspended since December 2005, according to The Supreme Court of Ohio Attorney Directory website, which notes not keeping up registration requirements.

In 2005, he created a self-financed film called Michael & Me, in which he offers a rebuttal to filmmaker Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine.

In 2007, Elder was one of the rotating talk hosts auditioning for the slot vacated by the now-canceled Imus in the Morning on MSNBC.

However, the job went to Joe Scarborough instead.

Elder is a columnist with Creators Syndicate.

His newspaper and online column are carried by Investor's Business Daily, World Net Daily, Townhall.com, Jewish World Review and FrontPage Magazine.

He hosts a video series published by The Epoch Times.

He then launched a daily live podcast as well as a webcast in December 2009.

Elder returned to KABC in September 2010.

After his father's death in 2011, Larry Elder recalled: "Gruff and blunt, my dad often intimidated my two brothers and me. But we never doubted his love or his commitment to his family."

In 2013, Elder and his brother Kirk accepted a Congressional Gold Medal from U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher on their father's behalf.

In December 2014, Elder was fired from KABC after one of his afternoon broadcasts.