Two Democratic governors initially praised for their response to COVID-19 are now facing a backlash over their treatment of the disease nearly a year after it began.
Californians were outraged when they saw photos of Governor Gavin Newsom eating at the exclusive Napa Valley French Laundry restaurant while parts of the state were closed, fueling the momentum of the retreat effort against him.
In New York, FBI and Brooklyn federal prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation into Governor Andrew Cuomo’s nursing home policies after his administration hid for months the total number of COVID-related deaths. 19.
Republicans and Democrats are outraged by him and face a possible rebuke from his own party and demand his resignation from the Republican Party.
Cuomo’s problems escalated in January after New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a report saying she “may have been undervalued.” The Cuomo administration then revealed that nearly 15,000 residents of nursing homes had died, instead of 8,500 originally reported; the lower figure did not include residents who had died in hospitals.
Last week, one of the governor’s top aides, Melissa DeRosa, told lawmakers that the administration “froze” when state lawmakers and the Justice Department requested data on the nursing home: he was concerned that the information would be “used against us.”
Cuomo apologized this week for the “gap” in information about residency deaths.
Democratic state senator Andrea Biaggi, a critic of Cuomo, told CBS News that there is a “growing feeling” among her colleagues that “the governor’s expanded emergency powers must be reduced and regained. “. Powers will expire at the end of April. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in a statement Wednesday that “we certainly see the need for a quick response, but we also want to move toward a system of oversight and review.”
Cuomo said Friday that he told legislative leaders he wants to “reduce the tone.” But he believes some people are spreading misinformation about nursing homes and says he will “counteract it aggressively.”
One of the targets of Cuomo’s anger is Democratic Assembly member Ron Kim, who has been critical of Cuomo’s nursing home policies. Last week, Kim accused Cuomo of calling him home and spending “about ten minutes threatening my career,” he said in an interview. Kim claims that Cuomo asked him to issue a statement defending DeRosa. A senior Cuomo councilor accused Kim of lying and having a “long and hostile relationship” with the governor.
“Every time we talk, every time we criticize, we are punished or threatened and we are slandered in the media,” Kim said.
State Senator Gustavo Rivera told CBS News that he did not receive any threatening calls from Cuomo, but was contacted by Joe Percoco, a former Cuomo aide who was convicted of bribery in 2018. Rivera said he does not want that Cuomo be executed in 2022.
“Its presence and toxicity make it difficult to govern this state,” Rivera said. “It’s his way or his way.”
A survey by the Siena College Research Institute published this week, conducted before DeRosa’s comments, found that Cuomo’s overall approval rating was 56%, down from 77% last April. Sixty-one percent of New Yorkers approved of their treatment of the pandemic, but only 39% believe it has done a good job of making all data on deaths from COVID in nursing homes available.
Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg notes that Cuomo’s drop in favor is largely due to the loss of Republican support.
“There’s been no scandal that has had a long-term impact on the way New York Democrats feel about Andrew Cuomo,” Greenberg said.
Cuomo has $ 17 million in his campaign account and has easily defeated previous primary challenges. A victory in 2022 would make him the first governor of New York elected for a fourth term since Nelson Rockefeller. Cuomo’s father, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, lost his candidacy for a fourth term to Republican George Pataki in 1994.
California Democrats have also fought Newsom for COVID. The governor pushed for the reopening of schools this month, but the Democratic state Senate passed legislation that set an April target date, which Newsom said it would veto. And state lawmakers have done the same criticized Newsom’s sudden alteration of home stay orders. But agents like Los Angeles County Democratic Party President Mark Gonzalez say criticism will not translate into support for Newsom’s withdrawal.
First-year state senator Dave Min described the withdrawal as an attempt to “fabricate a crisis” and take advantage of the disaffection around COVID “to eliminate a governor they didn’t like from the beginning.”
“There is certainly fatigue with Covid and many of the restrictions. But the silent majority follows protocols, follows science. She is a bit kidnapped by this very strong and angry minority,” Senator Min said.
Organizers of the withdrawal movement say they have collected more than 1.6 million signatures. The signatures will be verified before March 17 and 1.5 million are needed to start a special withdrawal election.
As of February 5, they had submitted 1,094,457 signatures and had validated 668,202 signatures.
Gonzalez said that while the withdrawn election “would certainly leave a stain” on Newsom’s 2022 re-election campaign, it will not “define its legacy.”
Newsom was elected in 2018 with 62% of the vote and now has an approval rating of 46% to 52%. Earlier this year, he had $ 20 million in cash on hand, an advantage for a possible withdrawal campaign, as there are no contribution limits in California in the face of a withdrawal.
“I would like to have memory capacity in New York State,” New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik said Friday at the California Republican Party Convention.
Cuomo and Newsom advocate more bailouts in part because of the attention they receive as governors of large states, as well as the nature of the constant political change around COVID, says Democratic Democrat Jared Leopold.
“One day your condition is at the bottom of the list in infections or vaccines, and the next day it’s at the top,” he said. “This crisis is not a short-term sprint, it is a long-term marathon. The coronavirus will define many elections in 2022, but the question is where are the legacies of the rulers on this issue in 2022, not where are February of 2021 “.