Jordan Davidson writes for the Federalist about the long-term impact of California’s gubernatorial recall election.
Frustrated California voters may have lost the battle to recall Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 14, but the war to unseat him in 2022 is just beginning.
Multiple outlets officially called the referendum on removing the governor a failure on Tuesday night, less than one hour after polls closed. Some California residents were stunned, but others said they are determined to use the power they amassed to create the recall to keep fighting to hold the governor accountable for his tyranny.
“The movement or the feeling on here was a very strong one of disenfranchisement, and the recall movement reignited or there’s been a resurgence of people who just got up and said ‘Yeah, we can do something,” Chairman of the Conservative Party of California Jon Matthews said.
Los Angeles GOP executive board member Julie Haff told The Federalist that even though results indicate the governor will keep his seat, Newsom’s trust in his track record clearly faltered in a way passionate voters can still use.
“If he was so confident in the job that he’s doing, why did he need to have millions and millions of dollars spent on this? Why does he have to have [President Joe] Biden, [Vice President Kamala] Harris, and others come in and help rally for him? He should be able to stand the job he’s doing and feel confident with the job he’s doing,” Haff said. “He’s not talking about the job he’s doing, he’s talking about the Republicans. I don’t think he’s doing a good job and obviously, there are millions of other Californians that don’t feel like he’s doing a good job, because why would we be here today?”
Newsom and his national Democrat cronies framed the recall as a shallow effort by Republicans who are still operating under “Trumpism.” During a rally to keep Newsom in office in Long Beach, Biden compared leading Republican candidate Larry Elder to Trump.