Newsom Slams Recall, Launches Counter-Campaign

CALIFORNIA — In a sign of the real threat posed by the campaign to recall him, Gov. Gavin Newsom broke his silence on Monday, slamming the recall as a partisan ploy. The governor officially launched a counter-campaign, vowing to fight the recall.

Newsom established a political committee on Monday to begin raising money to thwart the potential recall election. But it may be too late to stave off the recall entirely.

The recall's leaders say they have garnered over 2 million signatures to land Newsom's name on the ballot in 2022. Just shy of 1.5 million signatures from registered voters are needed by Wednesday. Hundreds of thousands of signatures must still be validated by election officials.

Newsom tried to walk the line between giving the recall effort too much credence and showing that he is ready to fight.

"I won’t be distracted by this partisan, Republican recall — but I will fight it," he said. "There is too much at stake."

A swath of Democratic leaders rallied behind Newsom on Monday including Sens. Bernie Sanders, Alex Padilla and Elizabeth Warren; Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Rep. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams.

President Joe Biden also said he opposes the effort to recall Newsom, Jen Psaki, Biden's press secretary said in February.

A "Stop the Republican Recall" campaign went live on Monday, debuting a website and punchy graphics that depict the recall effort as one backed by Trump supporters, anti-vaccine activists and "extremist Republicans."

"Extremist Republicans have done enough to undermine democracy already," Sanders wrote in a statement for the campaign. "We must all unite to oppose the recall in California."

Newsom's vow to fight back could pose a formidable threat for recall supporters. Under state rules, the California governor can raise money in unlimited amounts, while other candidates must abide by contribution limits.

The Golden State's Democratic Party swiftly donated $250,000 to the defense effort. In addition, Newsom's campaign is likely to receive a landslide of cash from allies and Democratic constituents who helped get him into office in 2018.

"[Newsom has] made tough calls that kept Californians safe and helped them recover financially," Booker said, addressing the governor's pandemic response in a statement. "Defeating this cynical, Trump-fueled recall effort will be one of the most important priorities for Democrats this year."

The recall effort sprouted last February, before the pandemic severely upended life in California, but supporters say that Newsom's response to the pandemic has been disastrous for businesses and revealed serious fissures within the state's unemployment agency after an audit revealed widespread fraud.

A poll released by Emerson College and Nexstar Media Group Inc. on Monday found that Californians were split on Newsom's pandemic response, with 45.4 percent saying they approve and 43.7 percent disapproving.

And although the new Democratic campaign accuses the Republican Party of inflaming the recall effort, the Nexstar poll showed that 39 percent of independents and 11.8 percent of Democrats would vote to recall him.

But the same report also shows that 65.6 percent of Democrats and 34.5 percent of Independents would vote to keep Newsom. Only 26.6 percent reported that they were "extremely interested" in a gubernatorial recall election.

Although it hasn't been verified, recall leaders have said that 38 percent of petition signatures have come from independents and Democrats.

The recall was first launched by the Republican-led California Patriot Coalition, but it took off after Newsom's French Laundry soiree — where the governor was seen dining out with a large group of people after urging Californians to stay home.

In a rare interview with KQED last week, Newsom addressed the French Laundry debacle.

“That’s those things you can never get back. And, you know, I owned up to that. And no one hid from that. And that was a mistake. Crystal clear,” he told the Bay Area news station.

In the interview, Newsom also made some of the most direct comments about the recall to date, a subject he sidles away from at press conferences.

“It’s about immigration. It’s about our health care policies. It’s about our criminal justice reform. It’s about the diversity of the state. It’s about our clean air, clean water programs, meeting our environmental strategies,” he told KQED.

Two possible challengers, Kevin Faulconer, the former Republican mayor of San Diego, and Republican businessman John Cox, who was defeated by Newsom in 2018, have announced their candidacy for Newsom's seat.

In perhaps a subtle nod to the recall campaign in his State of the State address last week, Newsom decried "naysayers," as he spoke to Californians from Dodger Stadium.

"We're not going to change course, just because of a few naysayers and doomsayers," he said. "The California critics out there who are promoting partisan political power grabs with outdated prejudices and rejecting everything that makes California truly great, we say this: we will not be distracted from getting shots in arms and our economy booming again."

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