On September 14, the voters of California rejected the attempt by Trump supporters and disgruntled libertarians to use the “Recall” process to remove Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The full count of mail-in ballots may take another week to ten days, but with more than two-thirds of the votes counted, nearly 64% voted against the recall. While the margin may narrow a bit, it is a decisive defeat for those who gathered petition signatures to put the recall on the ballot.
This represents a stunning reversal in the last four weeks, as polls in mid-August were showing that the recall vote would be very close, and Newsom could lose. He was elected in 2018 with 62% of the vote. Petition drives to recall him were launched shortly after his inauguration, but these failed, until organizers used the negative reactions to his tough measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, as the driver for his removal. The tide shifted in August when Newsom focused on the anti-vax, anti-mask rhetoric of his opponents, sharply contrasting his support for CDC guidelines in the battle against the COVID pandemic in California, to the deadly populism of the governors of Florida and Texas.
When his main Republican opponent, radio talk show host Larry Elder, pledged that were he elected, he would repeal Newsom’s mask and vaccine mandates “before I have my first cup of tea,” Newsom went on the offensive. He warned that recalling him would place public health in the hands of those whose response to the pandemic would endanger lives.
Los Angeles Times reporter David Lauter wrote today that Newsom succeeded in this way, by turning the issue into one of “personal freedom” versus “public safety.” As long as a large majority of voters “feel that the pandemic threatens their health and their children’s health, that’s not an even fight.” Exit polls confirmed that, showing that even among voters who are worried about the future of the state, the biggest concern was defeating the pandemic.
