Gavin Newsom, governor of California and one of the stars of the Democrats heading to the 2024 elections, will play his political future this November. His detractors have obtained the necessary signatures on Monday to force an election whose sole purpose is to remove him from office. The 53-year-old seasoned politician came to the governorship two years ago after being lieutenant governor and mayor of San Francisco. Now he faces a tug-of-war with the Conservatives in one of the main strongholds for President Joe Biden's party. His decline in popularity occurred in the pandemic, a specific juncture that Republican groups used to organize a movement to leave power. If Newsom survives this election, he will be able to seek a second term next year.
The California Secretary of State's office reported Monday that it received 2.1 million signatures in favor of the motion. More than 1.6 million signatures were considered valid, 100,000 more than the minimum necessary to force the special election. The final endorsement figure will arrive on Thursday, April 29. Since then, the petitioners have 30 days to withdraw their support for the initiative, but everything seems to indicate that it will reach the voters in the November elections. The ballot will ask two questions: Should Newsom retire? Who should replace it?
Mike Netter, one of the organizers of the challenge to the ruler, has celebrated the green light this Monday. “Gavin Newsom will compete against himself in this election. He has created it with his failed policies. He is the only one to blame, ”he said in a statement signed by other parents of the initiative. The statement issued this afternoon, however, tries to shake off the idea that it is a Republican attempt to seize power in a state ruled by Democrats for more than a decade. “This is a bipartisan effort. More than 30% of the signatures belong to Democrats or voters not registered in any political party, in addition to libertarians, ”the statement reported.
The answer of who should replace Gavin if he does NOT get more than 51% seems only to have it Republicans. They are the most visible candidates in the attempt to depose the governor. They include former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer; reality star and transgender activist Caitlyn Jenner and businessman John Cox, who lost the 2018 local elections to Newsom, who won 60% of the votes, almost three million more votes, in the most populous state in the United States .
The pandemic has been the major culprit for Newsom's decline in popularity. The strict measures and protocols adopted at the start of the health emergency, combined with logistical problems and setbacks in the distribution of the vaccines gave the detractors weapons to reach the goal in the signature campaign. But the scenario in California is not the same. The entity now has 11 million people fully vaccinated, 36% of its population. Another 6.4 million, 20% of Californians, are waiting for their second dose. Newsom has announced the total opening of the state by June 15 to continue with the current vaccination rates, almost 350,000 doses injected each day. Newsom knows that a return to normalcy will be his political salvation.
2021 has left Californians with a
2003
deja vu
. That year, a governor, also a Democrat, faced an election like the one Newsom has on the horizon. Gray Davis, however, failed to survive. His replacement was Arnold Schwarzenegger. So far then comes the story of the efforts to depose the authorities in turn in the state. The organizers of this movement, however, are about to get down to business. “Our work is just beginning. The real campaign is just about to begin, ”said Orrin Heatlie, Newsom's main ill-wisher, and leader of the Patriot Coalition who, for now, dreams of turning California back into a red state.
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