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Gov. Gavin Newsom defeats recall in landslide election

September 15, 2021

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

California Gov. Gavin Newsom will remain in office after defeating the state’s recall initiative by a 64 percent to 36 percent vote on Tuesday.

A majority vote was needed in order to recall Newsom. Proponents of the effort to remove Newsom from office did not come close to achieving that feat.

Had there been a majority vote to recall the governor, the candidate with the highest vote total in the race to replace Newsom would have been elected. Among the numerous candidates who ran to replace Newsom, conservative radio host Larry Elder garnered the most votes. Elder, a Republican, received 46.9 percent of the votes cast for candidates who could have potentially replaced Newsom.

Newsom characterized Tuesday’s election as a “Republican recall.”

“Tonight, California voted no on the recall and yes to… science, women’s rights, immigrant rights, the minimum wage, the environment, our future,” Newsom stated in a tweet. “We rejected cynicism and bigotry and chose hope and progress. Thank you, California.”

Newsom’s anti-recall campaign raised more than $70 million, well exceeding the $50.2 million his 2018 gubernatorial campaign brought in over a period of four years. The governor reportedly now has $24 million left in his war chest as he prepares for the 2022 gubernatorial election.

While California’s campaign finance rules prohibit donations to individual candidates of more than $32,400 per election, there are no contribution limits for committees that merely promote or oppose a recall. That affords individuals and groups seeking to influence state policy the opportunity to make large contributions to the incumbent governor.

California’s only previous gubernatorial recall election took place in 2013, when voters recalled Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and replaced him with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican.


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With this debacle, Newsom won 2022 too. Then appoints himself to Feinstein’s seat, gains a national audience, and it is off to greater things. This will backfire on the anti-Newsom folks.


-3

Right wing idiots are the ones who just caused California to waste over 300 million on an election that Newsom was never going to lose. How many millions has trump raised on a lie? Automatically checking people into recurring donations without their consent.


0

The tribalism in the USA continues, not one of the Newsome backers can name a single successful policy he has put forth. The liberals just know he has a D by his name so they have to vote for him. The liberals keep showing their elitist white privilege.


19

A white nationalist supporter talking about white privilege Is pretty funny. Lifelong republican who voted hell no!


-16

I’m not white or Republican Bennie boy, unlike you I think for myself and don’t hide behind a fake moniker like you.


28

Didn’t say you were white or republican just pointing out your liberal white privilege comment when the far rights base are white supremacy. Did you vote for elder? If so you voted for somebody who supports white nationalists.


-16

You make a lot of assumptions about who I voted for. Clearly your stance against the only black man in the race shows how you liberals want to keep people of color on the plantation. Your statement shows your true racist beliefs.


15

Omg lol it has nothing to do with his race and everything to with what comes out of his mouth. Didn’t answer the question if you voted for him or not. Don’t want to admit it?


-7

Maybe they just didn’t want him recalled. Maybe they are tired of California governors being recalled every time they become unpopular.


-1

Well, guess all that protesting on vineyard overpass on the 101 didn’t work. It did however almost cause car crashes every time.


-13

Lol I just give them the finger


-13

FYI, don’t think it is legal to have the stuff on an overpass. There is a court case somewhere.


2

The recall failed not due to Newsom’s competence, but due to there not being a quality candidate to unseat him:(

Plus all the funding from the teacher unions!!!

Larry Elder would of been fun to watch, just a little to risky!!!


-14

No not fun to watch unless you enjoyed the past year of trumps bs


-9

Anti-Trump and Pro-Vaccine voters are the new force.


18

Maybe next time try to win elections instead of recalls every time you don’t like the results. Maybe not storm the nation’s capitol. You know, elections?


0

Trump just said our democracy will end in 3 yrs. guess who’s running for president in three years. If the far right ever get control our democracy is lost. Never trump or his ilk. Country before party


-9

Agreed, country before party.


25

Important that everyone read the book “On Tyranny” by Tim Snyder right now. That’s exactly what Trump wants – the end of democracy – and that’s exactly what millions of Americans are willing to give him. Mindboggling considering world history.


2

America is not a democracy. The Founding Fathers specifically designed our Constitutional Representative Republic, to be the opposite of a democracy.


Every democracy in history, has destroyed itself with greed, absolute power, bankruptcy, and internal war.


10

We are getting destroyed by greed, lust for absolute power, close to bankruptcy and elected republicans are saying they will pick up arms against fellow Americans.


3

What are Californians thinking? Or are they thinking at all. How bad do things have to get before we want to change direction. Mensa need not look to California for new recruits.


10

Lol Mensa definitely doesn’t need to look to the party of science deniers and horse paste gobblers


-1

We support the actual biological science that says life begins at conception. To say otherwise, is denial.

We support the science that includes nature in climate change. To say otherwise, is denial.

We support the science that there are other remedies for disease outside of big pharma (we also call them what they really are, rather than lie about it). To say otherwise, is denial.

We support the equality for all people, and have since before democrats lost their slaves. To say otherwise, is denial.

We support psychological help for people who think they are anything but the gender they came into the world with. To say otherwise, is denial.

We support law and order. To say otherwise, is denial.

We support the US Constitution as written. To say otherwise, is denial.


-2

“WE” No you, to say otherwise is a delusion of grandeur.


You are just an anonymous primate on the internet, not the master race.


2

They’re thinking “Hey, this is America – a democracy. We can vote the guy out if we just wait until the next election.”


0

The only thing this failed recall did was to continue the high tax’s, homeless people no water,high electrical costs with rolling blackouts,high gas prices lousy schools illegal immigrants first and a overall attitude of this Governor to do as I say not as I do and if you loose your business due to his Covid rules so be it. !! DISGUSTING !!


36

And wasted 100’s of millions of dollars…there is also that.


19

Yep! The State of California was forced to waste $300 million on the recall to be exact. That’s on top of the $83 million raised by donors in opposition to the recall and $45.2 million raised in support of it.


You gotta love the sad irony of the recall backers:

* Complains about California wasting money on frivolous things

* Makes California waste an additional $300 million on a failed recall effort that accomplishes zero


I hope it was worth it! At least the printing companies, ad agencies, and political consultants made a mint on this debacle.


-9

One story says the ballots were printed by a company in Colorado, hope that isn’t true. This state is not even smart enough to require all ballots be printed by companies in California.


13

So free market capitalism is bad and you want some new laws?


0

Which pails in comparison to the 31 Billion is fraud from Newsom’s EDD


21

Was surprised the EDD fraud wasn’t an issue.


4

I know right, Newsome spending all that time personally sending out all those checks.


4

The $280 Million the State spent on an election from Republicans trying to unseat him mid-term could have been used elsewhere you say?


3

And good ol Larry Elder would have come in and just cut them taxes and swept the homeless people away and kicked out the illegals! You Republicans have become so naive and unrealistic.


-1

Far more voted to unseat him than needed to qualify for the recall election. This stench will never leave him and will trail his victory lap.


32

“ Far more voted to unseat him than needed to qualify for the recall election.” I suppose that is a glass half-full kind of statement. I would think that most in the GOP are thinking we are in serious trouble for the upcoming general election, especially if Larry Elder is the best they can come up with.


-19

Lol, “This stench ” If you are smelling something look where you are, don’t blame others like Elder and trump blamed fake fraud before the election was even counted.


The GQP is a long con.


-20

Elder is a loser just like trump get over it.


-7
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