On Sep. 14, the nearly $300 million political movement to recall California Governor Gavin Newsom concluded with 63.7% of votes to keep Newsom in power.
In case you missed it
The recall was a result of 1.5 million signatures statewide asking to remove Newsom from office and attracted 46 gubernatorial candidates.
What triggered the recall
Complaints regarding Newsom’s management of the COVID-19 crisis. A number of business owners reported that Newsom’s measures affected their small and medium businesses. The rise in rates of homicide, homelessness and other social issues also played an important part, but what caused more controversy and detonated criticism was when he ate at a fancy Napa Valley restaurant without a mask while urging Californians to stay home.
California voters were asked two questions on the ballot
- Should Gov. Newsom be recalled?
- If Newsom is recalled, who should replace him?
The results
- Newsom stays as California Governor. Over 7 million voters decided to keep Newsom in office with 63% of votes.
- Since the recall effort came from the Republican Party, most of the 46 alternative candidates were Republicans. Conservative candidate Larry Elder received 47% of the votes as it was predicted – positioning himself as the leading candidate with over 3 million votes.
Who voted to keep Newsom in power?
According to NBC News exit poll, 83% of African American voters in California voted against the recall, as well as 60% of the Latino community supported Newsom and 64% of Asian voters were part of this victory.
What happens next?
“I am humbled and grateful to the millions and millions of Californians that exercised their fundamental right to vote,” Newsom said Tuesday night after the election. After his victory, he also thanked the community for supporting the efforts on building a progressive state, economic justice, social justice, racial justice, and environmental justice as “California has made so much progress in these values.”
Now, Democrat governor Gavin Newsom will have to stay accountable to California voters through 2022, when he will be up for re-election.
Lessons learned
Now that the recall is over, California voters have discovered the costly price of the recall effort. We asked California voters their opinion on the process.
Many California residents are not content with the whole recall process, mostly because of the amount of money spent.
“I don’t understand why politicians would have to spend so much time and money for a recall when we have an election in less than nine months!” Alexis Robles, 28, said.
Carolina, 22 college student shared her frustration with the process as she thinks that that money could have been better spent in scholarships or education in general. “I just hope people of both parties remember this waste of money in the future,” she shared.
Multiple questions regarding the recall system came to Californians’ minds after this election – hoping to start the conversation at a national level and stay alert for better solutions in the future.
