A bad process

As we share our position on the California recall attempt, we ask you to keep two numbers in mind:

First — 3.8 percent of the population.

And second — $276 million. Got it? Here we go.

The rules of recalls in California are this: If you gather enough signatures in the required amount of time, we have an election. Period.

But — you need signatures representing just 12 percent of the number of people who voted in the last election. In California, the magic number came out to just under a million and a half people.

In a state with 39.51 million residents, that’s 3.8 percent of the population.

That’s it. That’s all that’s required to give the populace an up-and-down vote on whether or not to oust a governor — and replace him with somebody else, even if that person draws just a fraction of the support of the incumbent.

In California, we have 46 people seeking to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom; that means the leading vote-getter could theoretically get less than, say, 10 percent of the vote — but if the “yes or no” on the recall passes, that person would be the new governor.

Is it any wonder Republicans were so eager to get this on the ballot?

It is, by far, the best chance they have of getting a GOP governor in Sacramento again.

They sure can’t do it at the ballot box; in the 2018 election, Newsom creamed John Cox 61.9 percent to 38.1 percent. If a race were held today pitting Newsom against any Republican on the recall ballot, the outcome would be pretty much the same.

But this is a recall. This is different, and the fact a good number of people simply don’t understand how it works will only play to the GOP’S favor.

The Democrats haven’t exactly helped themselves here. At Newsom’s insistence, they didn’t put up a serious challenger in case the recall succeeded. That means if Newsom is recalled, there will likely be a Republican governor.

And make no mistake about it — based on the polling, and Newsom’s unpopular (some might even say misguided) positions on many issues, that’s a distinct possibility. And Newsom has nobody to blame but himself.

First, you can forget about those TV commercials labeling this a “Trump-republican effort to steal the election.”

It may have started out that way, but Trump Republicans are the least of Newsom’s worries right now. Remember, Republicans are outnumbered by Democrats in California about 2 to 1; there’s no way they can win any statewide election with a straight up-and-down vote.

No, the reason this recall has a chance is because Newsom has lost the support of so many people who voted for him in 2018 — notably Latinos, a fact you will never, ever hear Democrats bring up in their anti-recall ads. As is the case with so many things these days, COVID-19 may have a lot to do with it.

Latinos make up 39% of the state’s population. However, they comprise 55% of COVID cases and 46% of deaths from the virus, according to the California Department of Public Health. Many Latino leaders also say Newsom’s COVID policies impacted their businesses by a disproportionate amount.

Largely as a result, the polls show the recall is close and within the margin of error of succeeding.

Should it succeed?

We’ll be clear: For decades, the needs of our northern communities have been treated with contempt (if even noticed) by Sacramento, and that’s only gotten worse. The way he swoops into fireravaged communities unannounced, holds private press briefings to push his agenda with charred hills in the background and leaves before anyone even knew he was here hasn’t made him any friends either.

And if ever there was a poster child for “Do what the governor says, not what the governor does,” he cemented that legacy with his infamous dinner at the French Laundry. But should he be recalled? We think that’s a dangerous path best avoided, and here’s why: If it succeeds, what’s stopping the Democrats from doing the same thing?

Remember, there are twice as many registered Democrats in our state as Republicans. Think they’d have an easy time getting a million and a half people to sign a recall petition against Cox or Larry Elder or Kevin Faulconer — especially considering how angry they’d be if this attempt succeeds? They’d probably blow past that figure in less than a week and easily regain

the governorship, all while taxpayers were stuck paying another $276 million or more for the process.

Yes, $276 million. That’s the official price tag the state has placed on the cost of this attempt. You can expect the next one (if this one succeeds) to cost even more.

We believe in elections, and we believe that at the end of the day, the voters get what they voted for. We think recalls should be supported only in the most outrageous of circumstances, and here — whether we like it or not — all Newsom has done is largely follow the will of the people who put him in office.

Elections have consequences. If they’re bad enough, the next election will turn out differently, and that’s the way these things should be decided.

So put us down for a “no.” If anything needs to be recalled, it’s the ease with which these things can get on the ballot.