Why state’s $276 million recall election was a bargain

It’s hard to think of a better bargain in our high-cost state than the recall election. At an estimated cost of $276 million — $7 per Californian — our state got a monthslong democratic exercise that inspired public investments, improved the governor’s performance and may even save lives.

Maddeningly, many Californians (some of whom have the gall to call themselves Democrats) persist in calling this democratic triumph a waste of money. If they don’t want to look like hypocrites, they should reconsider this election’s math and reflect more deeply on the price of democracy.

Let’s start with the number: $276 million is almost nothing in a state California’s size. That figure represents less than 1% of the current budget surplus and about one-tenth of 1% of the overall state budget. To put it in another context, the election cost $100 million less than the Dodgers are paying their rightfielder.

Still, media commentators claim, falsely, that the recall took $300 million away from schools or homelessness. The truth is the exact opposite. The recall and the political pressure it put on Democrats, helped increase funding for core government services to historic heights.

And if legislators had another $300 million, they likely would blow it on their own donors. That’s precisely what happened in July when the state wasted $330 million by doubling ineffective tax credits for wealthy Hollywood producers.

Those same politicians could have reduced the recall’s cost by $60 million if they hadn’t moved the election date up to September. But don’t worry about such hypocrisy because even with the additional cost, the recall was worth it.

Spending more on elections has never made more sense than right now. California’s election system is making a historic transition — to mail ballots and voting centers — that is so far a success, with turnout up. But this progress is fragile because of rising attacks on democracy and on our county election officials.

More than 80% of the $276 million cost of the recall is going to those same county election officials — who, in running the recall election, reinforced new election infrastructure, found new ways to bring out voters and protected themselves and their elections against threats. The state uses the rest of the money ($30 million-plus) to do things like create voter guides in the languages Californians speak.

Think of the recall’s cost as money spent on infrastructure — democratic infrastructure. And instead of complaining about it, think of how much more we could invest in it. If we’re serious about saving democracy, we should fund a robust office of public participation in every California municipality, and develop better information resources for citizens, especially about ballot measures.

More people paying more attention to democracy can change things.

Just look at the dramatic transformation in Newsom, who was flailing and unfocused — until the recall effort gained momentum. Then, Newsom made personnel changes and curbed his bad habit of creating working groups and commissions (he ever had a “task force” on oxygen) instead of taking direct action.

Under recall threat, he reversed himself and pressured schools to reopen, replaced an ineffective business loans program with grants, and junked the confusing COVID-19 colored-tier system. Newsom also moved to shut down homeless encampments. And his recall year budget made too many historic investments — from transitional kindergarten to college scholarships — to list here.

In this context, Newsom’s landslide victory does not mean that the election was unnecessary. To the contrary, the recall outcome represented backing for more aggressive gubernatorial action, particularly on lifesaving vaccinations.

Now, Californians just have to keep Newsom — who is prone to distraction — angry, vulnerable, and on edge, as he was during the recall. If he gets complacent, perhaps some civic-minded Californian can qualify another recall to improve the governor’s focus — and give us another opportunity to spend more millions on our democracy.