Newsom launches campaign against recall
LOS ANGELES >> California Gov. Gavin Newsom established a political committee Monday to begin raising money to defend his seat in a potential recall election, the strongest acknowledgment to date that he expects to be on the ballot this year.
The Democrat’s new fundraising arm could soon send a powerful message to his possible rivals: Under state rules, Newsom alone is allowed to raise money in unlimited amounts, while other candidates must adhere to contribution limits.
It’s likely he will soon receive a flood of cash from his familiar Democratic constituency, including powerful public workers’ unions that spent millions of dollars helping get him into office in 2018. The California Democratic Party quickly showed its support with a $250,000 contribution.
Organizers of the recall say they have collected over 2 million petition signatures to place the election on the ballot — about 1.5 million are needed for it to qualify, though hundreds of thousands must still be validated by election officials.
In a tweet, Newsom said, “I won’t be distracted by this partisan, Republican recall — but I will fight it. There is too much at stake.”
Newsom has lined up support from state and national Democrats to defeat the campaign against him.
The committee started the drive with an advertisement
attacking the recall effort as a Republican power grab.
New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker said in a statement released by the committee that Newsom’s
leadership during the pandemic “kept Californians safe and helped them recover financially.”
Defeating the recall “will be one of the most important priorities for Democrats this year,” Booker said.
Stacey Abrams, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, progressive California U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders also added their names to the anti-recall effort.
Democrats have depicted the recall effort as seeded with extremists and supporters of former Republican President Donald
Trump. However, recall organizers say 38% of petition signatures have come from independents and Democrats. That could not be immediately verified.
By painting the recall effort as driven by Republicans and Trump backers, Democrats hope to keep independents and Democrats who may be frustrated with Newsom on their side. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 2 to 1 and Republicans have not won a statewide election in California since 2006.
Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis said Democrats must “reject
the efforts of the Republican party to sow discord in our state and their longshot attempt to slip a Republican governor into the bluest state in the country.”
Newsom for months sidestepped questions about the recall but has more recently started to ramp up his political operation and strategy.
He’s been traveling the state holding events to highlight coronavirus vaccinations, while a string of supporters have started staging online news conferences in an attempt to turn public favor his way.
The governor made his most direct comments on the recall Friday in an interview with San Francisco’s KQED news radio station, depicting the effort as a challenge to his administration’s progressive policies and not a reaction to his leadership during the pandemic that has claimed over 55,000 lives in California.
“It’s about immigration. It’s about our health care policies. It’s about our criminal justice reform. It’s about the diversity of the state. It’s about our clean air, clean water programs, meeting our environmental strategies,” he told KQED.