Leaders of Newsom recall effort say they have enough signatures [View all]
Source: The Hill
Leaders of effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Sunday that they have collected enough signatures to spark a special election this year. At a press conference, organizers announced that the effort has gathered 1.95 million signatures in support of the recall more than a week ahead of the March 17 deadline. The recall movement leaders said they still plan to try to reach 2 million before that date.
The recall movement gained traction as criticism has mounted against Newsom for his response to the coronavirus pandemic, particularly the restrictions against gatherings and on certain businesses.
Newsom won the 2018 gubernatorial race with 62 percent support in the state where Democrats have supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature.
A poll from the University of California-Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies in January determined that 36 percent of respondents said they would vote against Newsom in a special election. Forty-five percent indicated they would stand by the governor if a recall election took place.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/542042-leaders-of-newsom-recall-effort-say-they-have-enough-signatures
California's positivity rate is less then 3 percent and large majority of Californian support a mask mandate. Yet, thanks to rich right wing donors, it looks like Republicans will once again be able to get a recall election by pushing the idea of rolling back mask mandates.
While 2 million signatures seems like a lot, California is a huge state and if you can't finance a petition effort, then it is pretty easy to put anything on the ballot. For example, while Biden easily beat Trump 65 to 35 percent, over 8 million people in California voted for Trump. Thus, you only need about 1 in 4 of these folks to sign a petition.
The thing about a recall in 2021, less then year before a general election, is that Republican do what they do best, run in a low turnout special election where most of the people who even bother to vote are inclined to vote fore the recall. This is why in California, Republicans routinely threaten recalls that are financed by rich Republicans.
So, even though a large majority of Californians support mask mandates, Republicans can successfully gather signatures from people who want to immediately repeal the mask mandate and reopen irrespective of the risk. Thus, Republicans once again turn democracy on its head by trying to shrink the pool of voters by paying an expensive low turnout special election.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/05/gavin-newsom-recall-donors-466069
Big Republican donors — including some prominent backers of former President Donald Trump — are zeroing in on a new target as they dig out from the wreckage of the 2020 election: California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Major GOP benefactors are funneling cash into the effort to recall the first-term Democratic governor, who’s come under fire for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his oversight of the state’s battered economy.
The two groups leading the recall push say they have raised a combined $3.2 million and expect to surpass $3.5 million by this weekend. Most of the cash has flowed in since photos emerged of a mask-less Newsom attending a crowded birthday party at an exclusive Napa Valley restaurant in mid-November. He has since apologized, but Newsom has suffered severe backlash, with some accusing him of failing to abide by the stringent coronavirus protocols he himself set forth.
Some of the biggest donors to the recall effort also bankrolled Trump’s 2020 campaign. They include Beverly Hills real estate developer Geoff Palmer, who has shelled out $150,000 to the anti-Newsom campaign, and Silicon Valley venture capitalist Douglas Leone who, with his wife Patricia Perkins-Leone, have given nearly $100,000. Retired construction equipment executive Howard Groff and his wife Susan Groff have doled out $75,000.
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