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Southern California venture capitalist John Cox announced he is joining the 2018 governor's race.

Southern California venture capitalist John Cox announced he is joining the 2018 governor's race.

California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is also running for governor in 2018.

California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is also running for governor in 2018.

California State Treasurer John Chiang has also entered the governor's race to replace Jerry Brown.

California State Treasurer John Chiang has also entered the governor's race to replace Jerry Brown.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is also running for governor in 2018.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is also running for governor in 2018.

Former California state schools chief Delaine Eastin is another Democrat who has joined the race for governor in 2018.

Former California state schools chief Delaine Eastin is another Democrat who has joined the race for governor in 2018.

Republican businessman John Cox enters 2018 governors race

Southern California venture capitalist John Cox became the first major Republican to jump into the 2018 governors race Tuesday, saying he would reform state government by making it more representative and removing the influence of big money.

There are two Californias the one we have, and the one we could have. The California we have is in trouble, and we need to do something about it, Cox, 61, said in announcing his campaign via Facebook video.

Cox, who ran for office three times in his native Illinois but never won, joins four Democrats as declared candidates: former Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, state Treasurer John Chiang, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former state schools chief Delaine Eastin. Cox, who has lived in California for eight years, is a resident of Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego County.

In 2016 he spent $1 million on a proposed ballot measure that would have required legislators to wear the corporate logos of their top 10 donors when advocating for a measure in the Legislature. It did not qualify.

As he tried to do in 2014, Cox wants to put a measure on the 2018 ballot to create a neighborhood legislature. By dividing current Assembly and Senate districts into smaller pieces so each assembly member represents about 5,000 people and each senator about 10,000 constituents, Cox said it would remove the incentive for legislators to spend an inordinate amount of time fundraising and currying favor with monied interests.

He bristled at the notion that it would betray conservative principles by creating a larger bureaucracy, with hundreds more representatives.

I know thats what my opponents are going to try to say, Cox said in an interview Tuesday, but it actually will save more than $100 million, pointing to a nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Office report on a previous neighborhood legislature measure that failed to qualify for the ballot.

Cox faces an uphill battle in a state where only 26 percent of voters are registered Republicans. No Republicans hold statewide office, and Democrats have a supermajority in both houses of the Legislature.

Cox declined to say whether he voted for President Trump, who remains highly unpopular in California, according to recent polls.

I know my opponents will try to tie me to Mr. Trump. I am not Mr. Trump, Cox said. Im analytical, Im policy-oriented. I read five newspapers a day. Im not a reality TV star thats going to insult people. Im going to try to rally people.

He also declined to state his positions on social issues like abortion rights or same-sex marriage. Thats not what Im running on at all, he said.

Still, Cox could give Republicans an opportunity as the Democratic favorites are either consummate insiders or products of the political system. So this gives Republicans a chance to say this is no longer business as usual, said David McCuan, professor of political science at Sonoma State University. But on the downside, their (Republican) politics of usual is called irrelevance at the state level.

Coxs main challenge is that unlike is his Democratic opponents, who have held elective office, Californians have no idea who he is, said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego. And while Cox is wealthy he has already put $1 million into his campaign Kousser said, Hes a millionaire, not a billionaire.

Cox said he is not fully self-funding his candidacy. He argued that he is a self-made man who was raised by a single mother and worked two jobs to help put himself through college and law school.

Im not going to apologize for being successful, Cox said.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli

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Republican businessman John Cox enters 2018 governor's race - SFGate