California Governor Gavin Newsom is under yet another recall attempt by conservatives in the state. Newsom has previously fended off six other recall attempts.
These repeated recall attempts are being enabled by an oddity of California’s recall process. If a recall is put on the ballot, the person who replaces him does not necessarily need more votes than him on the same ballot. This creates an incentive for Newsom’s critics to continually try to take advantage of this rule to unseat him in an easier way than by winning a normal election.
Latest Recall
Politico reported that a citizen group in California served Newsom’s office with recall papers in late February. This latest attempt is spearheaded by conservative activists from the group Rescue California.
Recall supporters hope to replace Newsom with someone who better reflects their values. They see Newsom’s presidential ambitions as distracting him from problems in the state.
Newsom’s Response
Newsom was defiant in this recent attempt to oust him through the recall process. He made a post on the social media platform X slamming the effort.
“Trump Republicans are launching another wasteful recall campaign to distract us from the existential fight for democracy and reproductive freedom,” Newsom said. “We will defeat them.”
Who is Rescue California?
Rescue California is a conservative-leaning group that was behind a previous recall attempt against the governor in 2021.
The recall managed to move past the first stage, prompting the initiation of a special recall election. Newsom soundly defeated the effort then, with over 61% of voters electing not to recall the governor.
Complaints Against Newsom
Anne Dunsmore, the campaign director for Recall California, articulated the group’s problems with the California governor.
“He’s exhibited an inability to take care of problems very quickly when he feels like it. He cleaned up a city in three days, he fixed a freeway in less than 2 weeks,” Dunsmore said. “He needs to stick it out and not leave California to do other things, especially in the state that we’re in.“
Budget Deficit
Critics of Newsom point to a host of problems in the state they feel he has been unable to solve, including a projected deficit in the California state budget. A PPIC state survey found that fewer than half of likely-voting Californians approve of the job that Newsom has done governing the state.
“Gavin Newsom has abandoned the state to advance his presidential ambitions, leaving behind a $73 billion budget deficit and a public safety, immigration and education crisis,” said Dunmore.
Expensive Process
Critics of the recall push against Newsom think that one goal behind these recalls doesn’t have to do with democratic elections at all.
They point out that these recall campaigns can cost Newsom millions of dollars to defend himself, at a time when he is positioning himself in the national spotlight. Some suspect he is running a shadow campaign for the Democratic nomination for president, just in case Joe Biden is unable to run for whatever reason.
Special Rules
What makes the recall attempts dangerous for Newsom is a strange quirk of the recall process. The recall ballot contains two questions, one on whether to recall him and one on who to replace him with. The problem is on the second question, voters are not allowed to select Newsom.
This means that a replacement candidate who gets fewer votes than Newsom would have got in a regular election contest could beat him in a recall election. Critics of these rules call them undemocratic.
Republican Advantage
The advantage Republicans have when using this recall rule is that they could put up a candidate who is less popular than Newsom, but could still ultimately win the recall election.
If Republicans can muster an enthusiastic turnout to capitalize on apathy from many Democrats, there is a real chance Newsom could be unseated and a Republican put in his place. However, the recall effort has to qualify for the ballot first.
Newsom Taking the Threat Seriously
Despite previous efforts to recall the governor being thwarted, Newsom has not taken the recall attempt lightly.
“We are taking it seriously,” spokesperson for Newsom, Nathan Click said. “These Trump Republicans are targeting Gov. Newsom because he is out there defending democracy and fighting for the reelection of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. He’s not going to be distracted from that fight. Democracy’s on the ballot, and he’s going to keep fighting.”
Possible Benefit for Newsom
Stiff opposition from conservatives in his state might not be all bad for Newsom. He has been traveling the country and elevating the national profile of his brand recently. He has debated Flordia governor Ron DeSantis and defended President Joe Biden on TV spots.
There is potential for Newsom to use this latest recall attempt to create more attention, casting himself as a victim of persistent attacks to gain more political donations.
Unlikely to Succeed
As part of the recall process, conservative activists have to get 1.4 million signatures for it to be officially put on the ballot. These signatures need to be collected by May for the recall effort to show up on the November Ballot.
While it is true that a previous recall effort has made it to that step before, conservative activists will need to move quickly to get the necessary signatures in time, making the recall effort unlikely to succeed.
