By: Kyla Mitchell
Current Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, is up against a recall on September 14, 2021. The election could make Newsom only the third governor in United states history to be taken out of office because of a recall. The recall discussion came up during the pandemic, and was made official in February 2020.
Californians were unsatisfied with Newsom when he told everyone to stay at home and take all precautions necessary, when he, himself went out for a birthday party. Newsom’s opponents also did not like his policies. They are mainly upset with the high taxes, cost of living, energy use, homelessness, and rationing of water. Newsom does admit that he made some mistakes during the pandemic, but he believes that those mistakes do not make it necessary to have a recall.
All California people who are registered to vote are eligible to participate in the recall. The ballot will include two parts. The first part asks voters if Newsom should be removed from his position and if more than 50% say “yes”, then Gavin Newsom loses his spot. If the voter concludes “yes” then the second part of the ballot will ask who should take his place for the rest of his term which ends January 2023. If more than half of Californians vote “no”, then Newsom will keep his spot as governor.
According to businessinsider.com, almost fifty names are on the preliminary list of certified candidates, and about half are Republicans. Democrat candidate, Kevin Paffrath, and Republican candidate, Larry Elder, are the two candidates who are currently leading as possible replacements.
The outcome of the recall for Gavin Newsom is assumed to be in favor of Newsom. There was a poll in April asking whether people were opposed to recalling Newsom, or for removing the current governor. Results showed that 56% of respondents say that they were against removing Newsom and 40% of respondents answered that they were for recalling Newsom. In a more recent poll in August, the numbers were looking poor for the governor. In the recent poll, 51% of voters say “yes” to removing Newsom from his position. In the end, it all comes down to the turnout of voters.
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