Newsom on recall: ‘Of course, I’m worried’
Governor on offensive with committee, stops at MSNBC, ‘The View’
For weeks, Gov. Gavin Newsom has tried to avoid it.
Insisting he is investing most of his energy into conquering the coronavirus, Newsom has largely steered away questions about the looming threat to his political future: an effort to recall the Golden State’s second governor in less than two decades.
But this week, Newsom has come out swinging. He has created a committee to raise money to keep his office and started a media blitz that has so far included stops at MSNBC, ABC’s “The View” and CNN — acknowledging he sees the recall campaign as a legitimate threat.
“Am I worried about it? Of course, I’m worried about it,” Newsom said Tuesday on “The View.” “We’re taking it seriously.”
Newsom’s opponents have until today to submit enough signatures to put a bid to recall the sitting governor in front of voters, but it already appears likely that Californians will be asked to weigh in on the issue later this year.
Recall supporters — a bipartisan mix of Republicans and some Democrats angry at Newsom over business and school closures during the coronavirus pandemic — say they’ve collected more than 2 million signatures. They’ll need about 1.5 million of those signatures to be verified, or 12% of the roughly 12.5 million votes cast during the last election for governor, to spark a vote sometime during the second half of 2021. Voters would be asked two questions: first, whether they want to recall Newsom, and second, who should replace him. That second question only matters if
more than 50% of voters say yes to the first question.
In recent weeks, the recall has ballooned beyond California, with high-profile Republicans and Democrats across the country — from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren — weighing in. Newsom and his allies have accused recall backers of being a Donald Trumploving fringe movement, linking them in a new ad to “anti-vaccine QAnon extremists” and “violent white supremacists.” That prompted Orrin Heatlie, a retired Yolo County sheriff’s sergeant who filed the recall petition, to accuse Newsom of running a “smear campaign” about recall organizers because he can’t defend his record.
“This recall is driven by the people of California. It encompasses the entire political spectrum,” Heatlie said, “all the way from the far liberal left to the altright.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper pushed Newsom on the issue Tuesday, pointing out some of the 2 million or so recall petition signers say they backed the effort because the governor has been too harsh in locking down the state.
“I respect that. It’s been a difficult year. In hindsight, we’re all experts,” Newsom said. But, he insisted, “I think we saved thousands and thousands of lives.”
Still, support for the recall may be mounting. After initially winning widespread accolades for acting quickly to shut down the state in a bid to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus, Newsom has more recently faced pushback for keeping struggling businesses closed and wouldbe workers unemployed as other states such as Florida and Texas have reopened. A February poll from UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies found that slightly more than a third of the state’s voters thought the recall was a good idea. A poll from Emerson College for Nexstar Media released this week found 38% of voters would boot Newsom, while 42% would vote to keep him. And several Republicans, including former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, former Sacramento-area congressman Doug Ose and Newsom’s 2018 opponent, John Cox, have stepped forward to say they plan to challenge Newsom.
“Certainly it’s a threat,” said Larry Gerston, a political science professor emeritus at San Jose State University who wrote a book on the successful 2003 Gray Davis recall effort.
But it remains unclear whether critics can drum up enough opposition to unseat Newsom, particularly as more Californians are vaccinated and the economy revs up again.
Gerston thinks Newsom’s fate hangs on a couple of factors — primarily the pandemic, which he views as “the driving force” behind the recall.
If life returns to some semblance of normal, Gerston said, “I think a lot of the anger dissipates. Some of it will be there, but I think a lot of it will.”
Secondly, Gerston said, Newsom needs to move the state forward and not make “any judgment mistakes that reflect on his character.”
Read: No more French Laundry dinners. Newsom was blasted by critics for dining in an enclosed patio at the Napa County restaurant last fall with a group of people even as he urged Californians to avoid gatherings. Newsom on CNN Tuesday again acknowledged the dinner was “a mistake.” The recall comes as he and other Democrats, including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been accused by numerous women of sexual harassment in recent weeks, have faced mounting cynicism from voters.
Still, signs are so far pointing in Newsom’s favor. Democrats have remained largely united behind the governor, although the potential remains for someone more progressive to jump into the race and potentially jeopardize his chances of remaining in office.
Already, Newsom is making promises aimed at keeping the left in line. This week, he said that he would replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who at 87 is facing mounting pressure to step aside, with a Black woman if she retires early.
And during a Tuesday visit to Alameda County, Newsom appealed directly to voters for support.
“We’re going to fight it,” he said of the recall. “And sure it’s about the governor, but it’s also about you — it’s about our values, it’s about what we hold dear. It has to do with immigration, the browning of California — it has to do deeply with our values and the things we hold dear. So I’m not just fighting for me, I’m fighting for you, I’m fighting for the values of this state. And there’s a lot at stake, because in these elections, who knows what can happen?”