Gavin Newsom, governor of California, speaks during a campaign event at Long Beach City College in Long Beach, California, USA, on Monday, September 13, 2021.
Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Gavin Newsom survived a Republican attempt to oust him from the California government, ensuring that the Democrat could serve the remainder of his term as the nation’s most populous state official, according to an NBC News projection.
Ballot boxes for face-to-face voting closed Tuesday at 11 p.m. Voters had been voting by email for a few weeks.
The government’s recovery effort was the second in California history to qualify for the vote, giving Republicans a chance to seize power in a state of another deep blue color. .
Voters were asked two questions: Should Newsom be replaced, and if he is remembered, which of his 46 opponents in the election should be replaced?
Newsom, who was elected by a wide margin in 2018 for a term that would end in 2023, spent months trying to defend the Republican-led effort that gained strength last year over allegations that he mistreated the response. from the state to the coronavirus pandemic.
Nearly 1.5 million Californians signed the withdrawal petition due to frustrations over state-issued health orders and the appearance of a maskless Newsom at a dinner during the peak of cases Covid.
The recovery effort became one of several crises that Newsom, administrator of the largest state economy in the United States, had to juggle over the past year, in addition to wildfires, drought, l ‘rising cost of living and of course the pandemic. Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that Covid transmission rates in California are declining, however.
Polls over the summer showed a tighter run in the retirement election, but recently shifted in favor of Newsom.
His campaign boosted the turnout of complacent Democratic voters, who outnumbered Republicans in the state electorate by 2 to 1, as they gained a colossal advantage in the first postal voting.
The governor had a huge monetary advantage over his opponents. He had a $ 70 million box office and sparked a barrage of anti-retirement announcements with prominent Democrats, such as former President Barack Obama, who guaranteed him his tenure.
Newsom received the final push from President Joe Biden, who said Monday at a rally that election results will be felt nationwide, shaping the country’s leadership on climate change, the pandemic and even reproductive rights. .
Biden also criticized Larry Elder, the Republican election leader, on the Conservative talk show, which he called a “clone” of former President Donald Trump.
Elder gained far more support than any of the challengers competing to succeed Newsom, maintaining a substantial advantage over the rest of the field in the final votes. He promised to reverse vaccination and mask mandates and echoed Trump’s false claims about widespread election fraud in the 2020 election, laying the groundwork for misinformation about the withdrawal election.
A wide variety of personalities formed the other 45 candidates who did not get the support of the voters. Republican nominees include Caitlyn Jenner, a former reality TV personality and Olympic athlete, and John Cox, who has traveled to campaign events with a live Kodiak bear.
As for Democratic nominees, Hollywood actor Patrick Kilpatrick and YouTube millionaire Kevin Paffrath rushed to succeed Newsom.
This is a developing story. Please check for updates again.