The California governor, Gavin Newsom, survived a historic recall election to take the high throne from him. Governor Newsom’s political career would have been prone to erosion if the recall elections’ results had gone the other way. People who voted in the election rejected the idea of replacing governor Newsom with a Trumpist Republican, Larry Elder, and chose Newsom over his competition. Mr. Elder is a right-wing radio host influenced by the US’s former president Donald Trump’s ideologies and draws most inspiration from that controversial leader. Despite negative projections by certain politicians, Newsom seems to be a survivor in the political arena.
The California governor had tried to dismiss the recall elections since they would spend approximately $300 million. But his efforts were in vain as stern pressure from other interested politicians ensured that the elections proceeded as planned. Newsom campaigned by throwing shady at Elder, who is believed to have planned on “repealing masks and vaccines mandates before Newsom had his first cup of tea.” He then described the elections as a “matter of life and death.” Other challengers in the elections included former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulkner, businessman John Cox, who has now lost to Newsom for the second time, and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner.
The results were projected 45 minutes later after the voting process was completed, and the Associated Press was quick in foretelling where victory was going to land on Tuesday night. The 60% of counted ballots showed that those who answered ‘no’ to the question of recalling Newsom were ahead by a two-to-one margin. But margins were expected to shrink as the counting of votes continued.
The counting of votes is still ongoing, and electoral authorities are given 30 days to complete the counting process and announce the final winner. Based on the given standings, Newsom was confident to be the winner [Source] and tweeted that “Tonight, California voted NO on the recall and YES to … Science. Women’s rights. Immigrant rights. The minimum wage. The environment. Our future. We rejected cynicism and bigotry and chose hope and progress” [Source].
Numerous reasons caused concerned parties to embark on a recalling mission for Newsom. He was despised for keeping schools closed for longer periods compared to other states because of the coronavirus. Some citizens attacked him for the slow rollout of covid-19 vaccines and the backlogs experienced at the state’s unemployment department. After holding a dinner amid the coronavirus pandemic intense stages, governor Newsom made many ‘enemies’ and gave them a reason to denounce him.
After his triumph, Newsom did not express any public celebration stance but addressed the loyal supporters who had aided his victory. In addressing the voters on Tuesday night, he said, “Tonight I’m humbled, grateful, but resolved.”
He was of the view that the “Republican-led recall” was a witch hunt plotted against him, and by refusing such a replacement, his citizens had said, “Yes to science, we said yes to vaccines.” He showed great appreciation to the voters by saying, “I’m humbled and grateful to the millions and millions of Californians that exercise their fundamental right to vote and express themselves so overwhelmingly by rejecting the division, by rejecting the cynicism” [Source].
Conducted surveys show that those who voted ‘no’ were more interested in rejecting Elder than endorsing Newsom. Mr. Elder conceded defeat on Tuesday night after failing to see any glimpse of hope due to the polls’ numbers that were coming in. Learning from Trump, Elder did not accept defeat quietly but started throwing around conspiracy theories on how the election was stolen from him [Source].
With lady luck who gifted him a landslide victory, the governor will continue in office for another year before he is up for re-election.
