California votes this Tuesday in the recall elections called by conservative sectors to remove the governor, Democrat Gavin Newsom.
The president faces an impeachment process launched for his management of the COVID-19 pandemic, immigration or the housing crisis in the state, among other issues.
The latest polls suggest Newsom is likely to have no trouble getting out of the vote.
A poll released Friday by the UC Berkeley Institute for Government Studies, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, revealed that 60.1% of respondents oppose Newsom's impeachment, compared with 38.5% in favor.
"There is no scenario where we lose,"
Newsom strategist Sean Clegg told The Associated Press news agency.
Newsom, 53, needs a majority vote to keep his post until November 2022, when he can run for reelection, and the results are key for the Democratic Party heading into the midterm elections a year from now. when control of Congress is back at stake.
The vote could also determine the importance of the Democrats' campaign on sanitary restrictions due to the pandemic that many Republicans have denounced as unnecessary and excessively expensive, despite the fact that it is currently remitting in the state, especially in urban areas.
[Alarm in California for the spread of the mu variant of the coronavirus]
With all this on the line, President Joe Biden wrapped up Newsom Monday night at a rally in Long Beach, south of Los Angeles, after the support shown by Vice President Kamala Harris, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the former president Barack Obama and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
The removal of Newsom would be a harsh punishment for the Democratic Party in the country's most populous state (39.5 million) and with a progressive tradition, where it controls all state offices and has a nearly 2-to-1 advantage in registered voters, according to The Associated. Press.
The governor swept the 2018 elections with more than 60% of the votes.
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Biden's visit on Monday was the latest effort to motivate the state's more than 10 million Democratic voters.
The campaign had 25,000 volunteers on the streets over the weekend and has sent 31 million text messages to voters, according to the AP.
[California experiences a slight drop in COVID-19 cases in urban areas]
Biden closed the campaign in front of a large crowd in Long Beach and called the leading Republican candidate, conservative radio host Larry Elder, a "Donald Trump clone."
California Governor Gavin Newsom smiles as he speaks at a rally in Long Beach, Monday, Sept. 13, 2021. AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
"You all know that last year I had to compete with the real Donald Trump
," Biden said.
"Well, this year, the top Republican running for governor is the closest thing to a Trump clone I've ever seen."
He added: "I'm going to make this as simple as possible: either keep Gavin Newsom as governor or you will have Donald Trump. This is not a joke."
Biden noted that "the eyes of the nation are on California" and that the results "will reverberate across the nation and around the world," citing the state's great economy.
[California will force its teachers to get vaccinated or undergo periodic tests for COVID-19]
Newsom also invoked the former Republican president in his speech, citing the stakes in progressive causes like the right to vote, the climate emergency and abortion.
"We have not defeated
Trumpism
, which is still on the ballot in California," he said after criticizing the Texas abortion law, recently ratified by the Supreme Court.
"Racial justice is on the ballot tomorrow night. Economic justice is on that ballot," he added.
Before the rally, Biden toured the areas affected by the wildfires in Northern California and approved the federal disaster declaration.
The president praised Newsom's leadership in responding to the climate emergency, which is helping wildfires grow larger and more destructive.
From left: Jennifer Siebel Newsom, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and United States President Joe Biden greet supporters during an event in Long Beach, California, on September 13, 2021. EFE / EPA / CAROLINE BREHMAN
California Republican Party Chair Jessica Millan Patterson called it "disconcerting and insulting" that Biden participated in a political rally when some Californians are still trapped in Afghanistan.
"It is clear that protecting those for whom they were chosen to serve is second to politics," he said in a statement.
[A rare brain-eating amoeba kills 7-year-old boy in California]
Elder hosted his closing rally in nearby Orange County, where he urged his supporters to reach out to friends and neighbors to ask them to vote.
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"Make sure your friends vote and try to get 10 more friends to vote and make all the [possible] calls, knock on all the doors, we're going to win this if we get the vote," said Elder from a hotel lounge in Costa Desk.
The Republican Party will need exceptional turnout to beat the Democrats.
Nearly 8 million Californians have already cast their vote by mail.
[Only 50% of Latinos in California have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine]
Republicans have harshly criticized Newsom for rising taxes, homelessness, crime rates and house prices.
The repeal was driven in large part by the governor's COVID-19 restrictions, which forced schools and businesses to close and cost millions of jobs.
Voters are asked two questions:
"Should Newsom be removed, yes or no, and if he is removed, who should replace him?"
The results of the second question are irrelevant if the majority of voters support keeping Newsom.
[Does only California consider the detention of migrants at border bridges unconstitutional?]
There are 46 replacement candidates for voters to choose, and if the majority approves of Newsom's removal, the candidate who gets the most votes on the second question will become governor.
California is the state that hosts the most Latino voters in the United States, accounting for about a quarter of the entire Hispanic census in the nation, according to data from the Pew Center in 2020.
Newsom, who swept the 2018 election with more than 60% of the vote, is the fourth governor in U.S. history and the second in California to face impeachment.
Californians removed Democrat Gray Davis in 2003, replaced by Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.
With information from NBC News.
