With star dimmed, Calif. governor could face recall
LOS ANGELES – California Gov. Gavin Newsom has had a rough year. The next one might be even tougher as a recall effort appears to be gaining momentum, fueled partly by outrage over the first-term Democrat dining with friends at an opulent restaurant while telling state residents to spurn social gatherings and stay home.
It's not uncommon in California for residents to seek recalls, but they rarely get on the ballot, and even fewer succeed. Several launched against Newsom faded but another attempt is drawing greater attention as his fortunes change while he enters a critical stretch in his governorship.
Newsom received high praise for his aggressive approach to the coronavirus last spring, when he issued the nation's first statewide stayat-home order. Now there is growing public angst over subsequent health orders that have shuttered schools and businesses and a massive unemployment benefits fraud scandal, while a public shaming continues for his ill-advised dinner at the French Laundry in Napa Valley. Photos of the dinner – a birthday party for a Newsom confidante who also is a lobbyist – emerged showing the governor without a mask at a time when he was imploring people not to socialize with friends and wear a face covering when going out and around others.
Recall organizers say they have collected more than half the nearly 1.5 million petition signatures needed to place the recall on the ballot, and they have until mid-march to hit the required threshold.
Randy Economy, a senior adviser to the effort, said there was a surge of several hundred thousand petition signatures after Newsom's restaurant debacle last month. “It has resonated. It's about the arrogance of power,” he said.
The prospect of a recall election is reviving memories of California's circus-like 2003 recall, in which voters installed Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor after deposing the unpopular Democrat Gray Davis.
If the recall qualifies, Newsom, 53, would be forced to fend off rivals in the midst of a pandemic that has cost the state millions of jobs, cored government budgets and upended life for nearly 40 million residents.
The campaign could sap his focus just as the state manages the complex project of vaccinating millions of residents while rebuilding its viruswounded economy. California continues to deal with other risks, from deadly wildfires to a homelessness crisis in big cities.
“He's got a plate of Biblical plagues staring him in the face,” said Garry South, who was Davis' chief political adviser.
Still, South sees Newsom in a far stronger position to survive a challenge compared to the political climate 17 years ago when Davis was pushed out. A Republican hasn't won a statewide race in California in 14 years, and there is no Hollywood superstar emerging as a potential candidate.
“A recall (election) is never good, obviously,” South said. But “the Republicans are in a far weaker position” than in 2003.
For the telegenic Newsom, a recall election could unsettle a political ascendancy that many see aimed for the White House. If it qualifies, a closerthan-expected race could hurt the former San Francisco mayor's national profile as well as make him look vulnerable for 2022, when he is expected to seek a second term.
Newsom's challenging year already has encouraged Republicans who have signaled they are likely candidates, including former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Newsom's 2018 rival, businessman John Cox.
State records show just under 300,000 signatures have been filed, though Economy said another 500,000 are in the pipeline with county election officials.