And California’s Governor Gavin Newsom, whose family has been intertwined for generations with the families of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former governor Jerry Brown, is in grave danger of being removed from office in a September 14 recall election.
Newsom’s situation is unusual. He was elected with 62 percent of the vote in 2018 in a one-party state, where Republicans haven’t won a single statewide office in 15 years.
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Though he has squandered his political capital. His handling of COVID-19 has been characterized by regularly shifting lockdowns, closed schools, vaccine-distribution snafus, and an unemployment-benefits scandal that may have seen $31 billion awkwardly go to prisoners, fraudsters, and people out of state. Half of the state’s people are under a mask mandate. COVID limitations have particularly hurt Latinos. They gave Newsom 64 percent of their vote in 2018, though recent surveys reveal more Latinos back the recall than oppose it.
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Certainly, Newsom has earned a reputation as an arrogant elitist who acts as if mandates are for “the little people.” He turbocharged the recall by breaking his own coronavirus rules and attending an opulent dinner at French Laundry with lobbyists. His children have had in-person learning at an elite private school since last fall, even though he insists “he’s been living through Zoom school” — a statement the Sacramento Bee found “mostly false.” Only last month his kids had to be pulled from a summer camp because the governor announced he suddenly learned it had no mask requirements.
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Then there are California’s intractable difficulties. A BANANA movement (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody) has pushed housing costs to stratospheric heights. A new poll by a former pollster for Joe Biden has discovered that 65 percent of Californians think that crime is getting worse. High taxes, stifling regulations, and poor schools are driving more and more businesses to leave, and household moving vans follow them out of the state.
This disillusioning environment formed the conditions for the September 14 recall. Voters will be presented with two questions. The first will be whether Newsom should be recalled. The second will be who should replace him if a majority dismisses him. The candidate with the most votes on the second question becomes governor, no majority is needed.
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Unlike the recall that vaulted Arnold Schwarzenegger into office in 2003, there is no celebrity candidate this time. Newsom intimidated any even remotely known Democrat from filing to succeed him, and the relatively unknown Republicans who have been debating each other have proved themselves knowledgeable but bland in their presentation.
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