After his landslide victory, what will Newsom do with new mandate?
Hours after soundly defeating a Republican-led recall, Gov. Gavin Newsom Wednesday fled the bitterly partisan campaign and halls of the Capitol in Sacramento for the sticky, cacophonous comfort of a school in Oakland.
“It’s a treat,” he said of his visit to Melrose Leadership Academy, joking that he might want to add a fifth kid to his family. “This is what lights me up.”
But while Newsom spent the day after his landslide victory passing out Popsicles to young students and joining listening circles, the question now lighting up California is: What will he do with his mandate?
Will the governor spend the last 15months of his first term pushing ahead stricter requirements for vaccines and water conservation as the Golden State grapples with the pandemic and worsening drought? Will he double down on big spending and bold progressive actions around housing and homelessness? Or will he dial it back and play it safe as he gears up for another campaign for a second term?
The first answer Wednesday was: Yes, he plans to seek a second term, which means he’ll be back on the campaign trail gearing up for a June primary and, almost undoubtedly, a general election next November.
Defeating the recall has given him a renewed sense of purpose as leader of the Golden State, Newsom said Wednesday, offering a hint of his upcoming agenda.
“It sharpens your focus about time,” Newsom said, saying there are such things as addressing homelessness and climate change that he wants to focus on in the next several months, not just the next several years.
“This is a gift,” he said. “It’s precious. I feel enlivened, I feel more energized and I feel a deep sense of responsibility.”
The pandemic, too, has stretched his vision of what is possible, he said, pointing to the state’s efforts to get thousands of homeless people into housing as the coronavirus spread. Without offering specifics, he said “we’re going to be talking more” about eviction protections in the coming weeks and focusing on getting rent relief dollars out to those who need help covering bills.
He demurred when it came to possible new pandemic mandates, trotting out an often-used phrase — “we believe in localism” — in response to a question about whether the state as a whole could see student vaccine mandates like the one recently announced by the state’s largest school district, Los Angeles Unified.
But, Newsom insisted, “we are not timid,” leaving open the possibility of future actions should a winter surge in cases grip the state again.
And while he pushed back at the idea that he feels vindicated after winning the recall, Newsom called his victory a win for science.
Still, Newsom said, “I’m not naïve … good enough never is.”
He’d like to see more people get vaccinated and continue mask-wearing, he said, pointing to the fact that fewer than 10 schools have closed in California because of the coronavirus this school year, a tiny fraction of the thousands of closures across the U.S.
“We have a lot more work to do,” Newsom said, adding that he woke up from his election win “committed” to addressing the challenges the state faces.
And Newsom presented something of a peace offering for recall supporters, saying, “They matter and I care and I want them to know I’m going to have their backs as well.”
More than 5.8 million voters rejected the recall — nearly 64% of the vote counted as of Wednesday afternoon — and Newsom won the day in once-Republican Southern California strongholds such as Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
“I’m not sure this creates an ideological agenda, but it creates a confidence agenda,” said Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State University Los Angeles
Regardless of how Newsom decides to govern in the coming months, Bob Shrum, director of the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future, said the resounding win puts the governor in an ideal position to take bold action.
“I think he’s immensely strengthened,” Shrum said.
In the GOP’s attempt to oust Newsom, he continued, the Republicans “kneecapped themselves” instead.
Shrum said he expects
Newsom to launch a “major initiative” on homelessness by the January State of the State speech. “He may do it sooner than that.”
And, he said, “It’s clear from the exit polls there would be overwhelming support for stricter mandates” to get the pandemic under control.
For now, Shrum said, “he has a lot of freedom to do whatever he wants with the bills sitting on his desk,” including when it comes to such controversial topics as increasing housing density and police reform, although he’ll have to calculate how much heat he’s willing to risk taking from opponents with yet another election looming.
That opposition may not manifest itself at the polls too strongly if, as is expected, conservative radio host Larry Elder — Newsom’s lead challenger in the recall — becomes the face of the GOP. While Elder’s views — from rejecting any minimum wage to opposing Roe v. Wade — appeal to a vocal minority in the state, they are far to the right of most voters.
“Likely this will be a rematch of the recall,” Shrum said, which would work in Newsom’s favor. “This is political proof of the old adage that if you go for the king, you better get the king.”