Ex-fiance of leading California GOP gubernatorial candidate says he waved a gun at her while high

Politico reported Thursday that the leading Republican candidate in the California gubernatorial race allegedly has a history of domestic violence.

Alexandra Datig, Larry Elder's former fiancé said that she broke off her engagement in 2015 after a series of concerning encounters. One, she recalled, was when Elder was high on cannabis and waving his gun around her.

"He was in the bedroom, and I was standing by the door," she recalled. "We talked to each other.'' He then stopped talking and slowly "walked over to the nightstand, opened the door, took out the gun,'' which she identified as a .45 pistol.

"And he checked if it was loaded — while I was talking,'' she said. "He wanted to make sure I saw that he had it."

"It was an act of silent scorn — and anger,'' she said. "For a minute there ... I thought it was a Phil Spector moment,'' Datig said. Spector was a former record producer who shot and killed actress Lana Clarkson in 2003. "My fear was great, and I understood I needed to de-escalate."

At that point, "he was threatening to throw me out on the street ... and rather than answer back or throw something, I tried to use every tool I had in recovery... I just walked out,'' she said. "I locked myself into the bedroom downstairs.''

Datig also said that the incident was a culmination of a series of "humiliating disputes that made her fearful for her safety," the report said. His actions made her fear that she could maintain her own sobrity. She explained that he was frequently high while she was engaged to him and would demand she get a "Larry's Girl" tattoo to show her devotion to him.

Elder is among many Republicans attempting to take over for Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), who has infuriated conservative Californians over the past several months with mask mandates and lockdowns to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Elder has previously made disparaging comments about women. "Women know less than men about political issues, economics, and current events," he wrote in 2000. Republican opponents called him during the recent GOP gubernatorial debate, but he was absent. Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer attacked the comments in that debate.

Read the full report at Politico.