Peter Thiel For California Governor? PayPal Co-Founder Denies He Will Run

Venture capitalist Peter Thiel played a major role in the U.S. presidential election last year as a supporter of President Donald Trump, but a group of supporters hope he’ll do more in politics.

A third-party political action committee called “Draft Peter Thiel For Governor” registered itself with the Federal Election Committee Saturday. The political action committee’s site calls for Thiel to enter California’s 2018 gubernatorial race. As Forbes notes, groups expecting to collect or spend more than $50,000 must register with the FEC.

For Thiel’s part, a spokesman denied he had any interest in running. In January, Politico reported Thiel was looking into a potential run.

The political action committee’s site is clear in its support of Thiel as a potential candidate, even if its origins are less than clear. The site’s Whois registration info is private and emails sent to addresses from the political group were not immediately returned.

The group’s site features a page for donations to fund a potential Thiel campaign and has a pledge section that features a call to action.

“For years you have built great companies, innovated, and created thousands of jobs. Duty now summons you to a different calling: to save the state of California,” the site’s pledge said.

“You have the knowledge and the experience to see where liberals have led California’s policy astray, and you have the courage to say so when others will not. You can bring to California what it presently lacks most of all: the political fortitude to do the right thing.”

While Thiel had previously been best known for being a PayPal co-founder and early investor in Facebook, his moves in the past year have raised the venture capitalist’s public profile considerably. Thiel was an early supporter for a Trump presidency who spoke at the Republican National Convention last summer and his prominent support of Trump has made him a notable outlier from much of the tech industry. Thiel also helped fund pro wrestler Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker Media, which resulted in the publisher filing for bankruptcy.