Recall Gov. Newsom, elect Larry Elder
California’s constitution grants the residents of the Golden State the power to remove politicians from office for any reason with a majority vote. This week, we’ll find out if a majority of voters agree with the proposal to remove Gov. Gavin Newsom from office. While this editorial board is not generally eager to support recall efforts, Newsom has shown poor leadership, poor judgment and a clear tendency to prioritize special interests above the people of California. We reiterate our support for a “Yes” on the recall.
More than 1.7 million Californians signed petitions indicating they would like to invoke constitutional tool to democratically remove Gov. Gavin Newsom from office and put the matter to a vote.
Unlike impeachment of presidents or federal officials, there’s no need to determine whether the governor has committed “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Successful or not, the recall is a check on those in power. In a state with one-party dominance of state offices and the California Legislature, the power of the recall is one of the few remaining tools for the public to register its discontent with the status quo.
This editorial board supports the removal of Newsom from office for the plain reason that on virtually any issue one looks at, the governor has been a failure.
From keeping public schools closed for in-person instruction far longer than many states to signing legislation stifling the growth of charter schools, Newsom has consistently put the interests of the teachers’ unions ahead of students.
From withholding information from the press throughout the pandemic regarding the metrics by which decisions were made to shutting out business representatives as pandemic rules impacting businesses were being crafted behind closed doors, Newsom’s administration has been anything but transparent.
From signing Assembly Bill 5 into law, upending independent contractors across the state, to overseeing the destruction of small businesses across the state, Newsom has made life tangibly harder for entrepreneurial Californians.
The litany of failures just goes on and on.
The debacle at the Employment Development Department itself is one of the worst failures in state government history, with millions of needy Californians left to deal with a poorly responsive system while potentially $30 billion in unemployment checks went out to criminals and fraudsters.
The governor has cheered on the bullet train boondoggle while underinvesting in practical things like wildfire prevention and water infrastructure.
Representative of how the governor does business was his swift signing away of hundreds of millions of dollars to the state prison guard union, only to be rewarded weeks later with the prison guard union dumping millions to help him defeat the recall.
For all these reasons and more, the case is there to support the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
To replace Newsom, we reiterate our endorsement of longtime talk-show host and author Larry Elder.
Elder is a forceful advocate for individual liberty and limited, effective government. Elder’s emphasis on school choice, reforming the California Environmental Quality Act and focusing on the basics like wildfire prevention and water resilience reflects a sort of common sense currently lacking in Sacramento.
While we certainly do not endorse every utterance Elder has ever made in his decadeslong career as a contrarian commentator, Elder is right about the need to shake up the status quo in Sacramento. He is better suited than any of his distant rivals to make the most of a scenario in which the recall is successful and a replacement candidate has just over a year to govern before the next general election.
If elected, Elder would be checked by the Democratic supermajority in the Legislature. But he would bring renewed, necessary attention to the failings of Sacramento and would do so having considerable political capital.
A successful recall will send the ultimate message to the political establishment. Vote yes on the recall and Larry Elder as the replacement.