OUR RECALL AMBITIONS
Why are you so desperate to seize the governorship, San Diego?
The recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom has many geographic roots. Its original proponent was a Yolo County sheriff ’s deputy. The recall petition drew considerable support in North State communities. And right-wing Republicans from across America have funded it.
But a recall is about replacing one governor with another. And, for the second gubernatorial recall in a row, San Diego County — and its frustrated politicians — are driving the process.
In 2003, the frustrated San Diegan behind the recall of Gov. Gray Davis was Congressman Darrell Issa. An ordinary gubernatorial election didn’t hold much hope for a conservative Republican like Issa, but the recall election — with a huge field of replacement candidates — looked like an opening. So, Issa, a car alarm magnate, provided the money to qualify the recall, and started running for office — before abandoning his campaign in the face of media attacks.
This time, two ambitious San Diegans lead in early polls of who would replace Newsom if the recall succeeds.
Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, long a gubernatorial aspirant, might be too moderate to win in a regular, California top-two election. But he saw the wide-open recall race as an opportunity, and launched his campaign before all the signatures were verified this spring.
San Diego-based businessman John Cox, who lost badly to Newsom in the regular 2018 gubernatorial election, sees the recall as a second chance. He is throwing his fortune behind his recall candidacy, broadcasting ads statewide that show him with a bear, symbolizing the “beastly” changes he promises the state.
Why is San Diego the home of recall ambition? Part of the answer lies in the state’s political change. While San Diego — which voted Republican in 19 of 25 20th-century presidential races — has become more Democratic, it’s still not as blue as the state as a whole. San Diego still elects Republicans like Faulconer, who is popular enough with San Diego Democrats to convince himself he might win statewide.
Another political answer to the question lies in San Diego’s little-known status as a hotbed of direct democracy. For much of California’s history, San Diego has been the easiest place to gather signatures on petitions for recalls and ballot initiatives. In some initiative campaigns, San Diego produced signatures at twice the per-voter rate of other counties.
But I suspect that San Diego’s affinity for the recall goes beyond politics. San Diego is a big place, the country’s eighth most populous city, but its cachet and influence don’t match its ambitions — because America’s Finest City, as it bills itself, has the bad luck to be located in California.
San Diego would be the largest metropolis in 43 states, but in California, it’s an after-thought, only the fourth most populous metro region, smaller than even the Inland Empire. Its news, its sports teams and its leaders don’t get the same level of statewide attention that San Francisco and Los Angeles do.
San Diego is also a different sort of place than its big brothers up the coast. L.A. and the Bay Area are global mega-regions, proudly out of step with the rest of the United States. San Diego, by contrast, is the most unabashedly American of California cities. It’s a place full of military installations and veterans, who fly their flags and host our state’s largest Fourth of July show. Its location on an international
For the second gubernatorial recall in a row, San Diego County — and its frustrated politicians — are driving the process.
border also reinforces its American identity.
San Diegans, many of whom have dedicated their careers to defending the nation, often see the rest of California as going too far beyond American law and tradition. So, it’s not hard to see why the recall, a reactionary tool, might appeal as a way of pulling California back to reality.
But that doesn’t mean the recall will succeed in installing a San Diegan, much less slowing down change. Back in 2003, the San Diego-funded recall was ultimately won by a foreign-born movie star from Los Angeles.
It doesn’t help the prospects of Cox or Falconer that the last California governor from San Diego, Pete Wilson, who ran as a moderate, has curdled into a full-throated supporter of Donald Trump. Late in life, Wilson, whose statue was briefly taken down in San Diego last fall, defends his anti-immigration politics with the fervor of a man who wants to go down in history as California’s answer to George Wallace.
This year, San Diego’s attempts to take out Gavin Newsom have succeeded in producing another recall election, which is no small feat. But since the election became a certainty, Gov. Newsom has grown more energized and popular.
In today’s California, San Diego has enough horsepower to demand the state reconsider who should be governor — but not enough to take the reins itself.