Newsom manages to win the recall.
This was his message 4:46
(CNN Spanish) --
California Governor Gavin Newsom is in the political race for his re-election, with a very high possibility of being re-elected - the polls recorded by CNN indicate - but apparently, with his sights set beyond his home state, and with a view to a presidential election that has given clues that it has already started.
Newsom, former mayor of San Francisco, came to the Governor's Office of California after a few years as lieutenant governor of the state, with a platform of issues that included support for same-sex marriage (which had previously been approved), support for gun control, justice reform, and universal health care.
In the last year, Newsom faced a kind of post-Covid referendum from which he emerged the winner, when his opponents called for his removal from office for the measures during the pandemic.
Now, in his reelection race, he won an overwhelming majority, almost 56% of the vote over his Republican rival, Brian Dahle, who got a precarious 17.7% of the vote.
The measures by covid and the housing problem
During his government, California stood out as one of the states that had aggressive restrictions to contain covid-19 with closures, confinements, mandatory use of masks and the promotion of vaccination campaigns, unlike some states led by Republicans, such as the Florida case.
Newson appeared day after day in television ads framing the vote as a "life or death" option, while his then Republican challenger, conservative Larry Elder, promised to end Newsom's mask and vaccine mandates, as one of his first acts in office.
advertising
And those measures received a significant boost by showing Democrats across the country that tough pandemic policy can be good policy.
Newsom nodded when asked by reporters if the result of that election said "yes to science, yes to vaccines ... yes to ending this pandemic."
The governor survived the impeachment attempt, with 61.9% of votes in favor of no impeachment, and 38.1% in favor of yes, and he had the green light to end his term in the dominantly Democratic state.
Another crisis facing California is the large number of homeless people, an issue that has plagued the state for years.
Cities and towns have been transformed with tent camps located in parks and residential neighborhoods.
There are also safety concerns about people living unprotected on the streets who are vulnerable to crime, but they are also concerned about the large number of unprotected people suffering from serious mental health and substance abuse problems that They live very close to their homes, and you see piles of garbage, discarded clothing and belongings that have accumulated along the streets.
Thousands of people are becoming homeless in Los Angeles 3:55
Newsom has long promised progress for a problem that has been decades in the making.
In July, he signed a funding package that will earmark $12 billion to address homelessness over two years and another $10.3 billion to build affordable housing.
Meanwhile, Newsom has spearheaded a strict gun control policy that he has called "the strictest" in the country.
This law, signed in July 2021, put into effect more than 10 gun restrictions and allows states, local governments and individuals to "sue gun manufacturers for harm caused by their products, the sale of firearms to minors and sponsored privately-driven legislation to limit the spread of assault weapons and phantom weapons.
In March 2019, the governor signed an order placing a moratorium on death sentences and halted executions of those on death row.
This executive order calls for the repeal of California's lethal injection protocol and ordered the immediate closure of the execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison.
The law does not alter any current conviction or sentence, nor will it result in the release of any prisoner currently on death row.
Newsom decided the moratorium was in the best interest of the state, because he believes the death penalty "is inconsistent with our core values and strikes at the heart of what it means to be a Californian."
This is Gavin Newsom and Brian Dahle, the candidates for governor in California
Other critical issues
In addition to the COVID-19 crisis, California has faced parallel crises with devastating wildfires that continue unabated, as well as a historic drought.
As for fires, the state has seen an average of about 6,700 wildfires between 2018 and so far in 2022, so Newsom has had to deal with an environmental crisis that has also caused historic droughts in the region.
Newsom recently petitioned the federal government for a major disaster declaration for communities affected by extreme heat and weather-driven wildfires.
Meanwhile, Newsom has spearheaded a strict gun control policy that he has called "the strictest" in the country.
This law, signed in July 2021, put into effect more than 10 gun restrictions and allows states, local governments and individuals to "sue gun manufacturers for harm caused by their products, the sale of firearms to minors and sponsored privately-driven legislation to limit the spread of assault weapons and phantom weapons.
The legislation is modeled after a Texas abortion law that went into effect last year that allows citizens to sue anyone who aids or permits an abortion in that state,
The New York Times
reported .
“If they are going to use this framework to put women's lives at risk, we will use it to save people's lives in the state of California.
That is the spirit, the principle behind this law,” Newsom said, quoted by
The New York Times
during a press conference introducing the law.
With his re-election almost certain this November as governor, the Democrat is measuring antagonistic leaderships with the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, another possible presidential candidate on the Republican side, with whom he could, in any case, face the presidential elections for 2024.
As Midterm Election Day Approaches, Trump-DeSantis 2024 Rivalry Leaks To Public
With reporting from CNN's Maeve Reston, Gregory Krieg and Chris Cillizza
midterm electionsgavin newsomvoto latino