CGerman Gov. Gavin Newsom defeated a historic Republican-led recovery effort, achieving a victory that will likely save his political career and bolster the continuation of Democratic policies.
On Tuesday Newsom easily fought the attempt to remove him from office less than three years after his first term. Incomplete returns showed him towards a total victory with 65% of the vote.
The Democratic governor, who is widely popular in the state, faced more than 40 opposition candidates who wanted to take the helm of the Golden State. His main challenger, Larry Elder, a right-wing host who opposes control of the minimum wage and weapons, tried to sow doubts about the outcome even before the polls closed on Tuesday.
Newsom did not hold any surveillance party or any election night celebration. Instead, he took a somber tone by speaking to reporters Tuesday night, saying, “Tonight I am humiliated, grateful, but resolute.
“No, he’s not the only one who has spoken out tonight,” Newsom said. “We said yes to science, we said yes to vaccines, we said yes to ending this pandemic.
“Democracy is not football. Don’t throw it around. It is rather, I don’t know, an old vase “, he added. “You can drop it, break it into a million different pieces, and that’s what we’re able to do if we don’t stand up to meet the moment and step back.”
“A choice about life and death”
Led by Republicans opposed to Newsom’s progressive policies, the recovery effort gained momentum during the height of the pandemic amid frustrations over prolonged school closures, business restrictions and huge delays in state unemployment agencies .
Elder promised a sharp change of course if he was elected to lead the most populous state in America. He promised to withdraw public health policies, including coronavirus restrictions, such as mask and vaccine mandates.
“I don’t drink coffee, I drink tea, and when I come to power, assuming there are still warrants for vaccines and warrants for face masks, they will be repealed before I take my first cup of tea,” Elder told fans of an August Demonstration in the Central Valley of California, where the rise of the Delta variant has begun to overwhelm hospital intensive care departments.
Elder had also spoken out in opposition to the minimum wage, had been critical of the Roe v Wade ruling on abortion rights and had vowed to select Conservative judges and replace 88-year-old Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein with a Republican if it gave him the opportunity.
With Elder in the running, Newsom framed the election as a competition between two radically different views on the future of California and the referendum on the future of Trumpism in American politics. Newsom called Elder “more extreme than Donald Trump” and characterized the choice between him and Republican challenges as a “choice about life and death.”
On Tuesday, California voters made it clear they did not want a dramatic change of direction. “It’s a bit remarkable that Newsom could take on the Covid issue, which could have been a fatal weakness for him and could turn him into a considerable force,” said Dan Schnur, a policy professor who has advised Republican candidates.
“Larry Elder shook hands [Democrats] so many gifts on one plate. It’s literally the antithesis of the majority of California voters, ”said Dana Williamson, who was the chief adviser to former California Gov. Jerry Brown.
Newsom 2022
Newsom’s victory assures him of his ability to run for re-election in 2022, possibly avoiding any major challenger and preserving his place as a national political figure.
“Now he wins that, he wins again in 2022 and now we get to 2024 and beyond and he becomes a viable presidential candidate,” said Jack Citrin, a political science professor at UC Berkeley. “Every crisis is also an opportunity.”
After surviving the retirement, Newsom will serve one more year before being re-elected. “If he had survived by a small margin, it is very likely that another Democrat would have come out against him from the left next year,” Schnur said. “But given a landslide like this, it’s very hard to see that happen.”
With just over a year to go, Citrin hopes Newsom will avoid “self-inflicted injuries,” such as his unfortunate visit to the Michelin-starred French laundry restaurant during Covid’s rise in the state last fall. effort to connect with Latino voters. “There has been a certain feeling in this campaign that it has not had a strong following among Latino voters, as you would like given the growing political and electoral power of Latinos.”
Newsom’s victory comes as California faces major political challenges, including homelessness, housing shortages that drive up already unbearable housing prices, and double environmental crises of drought and wildfires.
California is in the midst of another season of devastating fires, and in recent years, flames have leveled entire cities, destroyed thousands of homes and killed more than 180 people. Experts have warned that state forest fires outweigh government interventions and that decisive leadership is needed to resolve the crisis by taking action against the climate crisis and reintroducing fire into the landscape.
As the state fights the fires, it is also facing a devastating drought that has left reservoirs dangerously low, put pressure on the agricultural industry and threatened the power supply of hydroelectric power plants. While the state has been busy preparing billions, experts say more ambitious solutions are still needed to navigate the coming years.
Meanwhile, the costly election, which could cost the state up to $ 300 million, is sure to raise more questions about reforming the California withdrawal system, which has been the subject of intense criticism in recent months. Citrin does not see the withdrawal going away soon, but hopes efforts can be made to adjust the process by requiring more signatures.
Maanvi Singh and Associated Press contributed.