Cox Surges While Newsom Looks Down Ballot

LOS ANGELES, CA — Don’t be fooled by the air of inevitability about the race for Governor in the nation’s most populous state. The race between Republican underdog John Cox and Democratic frontrunner Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom will have a ripple effect up and down the ballot. And it’s not very often California voters will get to choose between such contrasting visions for the future of the Golden State.

You can blame it on Trump’s America. Or, you can blame it on the California resistance movement, but neither gubernatorial candidate is taking a centrist approach. The two men squared off this week in the closest thing to a debate of this campaign season, and there was little the two could agree on. From climate change, to gun control, sanctuary law and education, the two seem to be running in different states.

Newsom clearly has the edge in liberal California. He leads so handily in the polls, he’s spent much of the last month crisscrossing the state to campaign for other Democrats. But Cox is surging, gnawing Newsom’s lead down to 12 points, according to a Thomas Part­ners Strategies / Øptimus poll released Wednesday.

Cox, a millionaire real estate investor who’s never held public office, seeks to turn Newsom’s political career into a liability, pinning California’s struggles with housing affordability, homelessness and poverty on the state’s Democratic leadership.

“Gavin has been part of a political class that has led this state downward,” Cox said during Monday’s candidate forum, hosted by public radio’s KQED. Cox accused the state’s leadership of being beholden to special interests.

In turn, Newsom hammered Cox for holding right wing positions on gun control, climate change, abortion rights and marriage equality. Repeatedly, Newsom positioned himself as the fighter Californians need to battle Washington.

In one of the more notable exchanges of the forum, Newsom addressed his reputation for feuding with fellow Democrats. “If you’re looking for timidity, I’m not your person,” Newsom said. “If you’re looking for someone to be bold and courageous, lean into issues, change the order of things, I’m committing myself to that cause as the next governor.”

Resisting the Trump administration’s immigration agenda and environmental deregulation has been a major part of Newsom’s candidacy.

“We’re engaged in an epic battle, and it looks like voters will have a real choice this November between a governor who is going to stand up to Donald Trump and a foot soldier in his war on California,” he told CalMatters.

Newsom criticized Cox’s support for Trump’s border wall and his opposition to California’s so-called sanctuary law, painting the Republican as Trump’s “advocate in Sacramento.” As he has throughout the election season, he hammered Cox for his conservative social stances including his opposition to abortion rights and gay marriage.

The two also differ on climate change, with Newsom contending that California needs to be a world leader in curbing greenhouse emissions and Cox questioning whether the cost is worth it. He has advocated a combined approach of deregulation and the promoting clean energy.

Cox shifted the discussion to the defining position of his campaign, his advocacy for Proposition 6, the gas tax repeal measure on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Cox argues that the tax is another example of politicians refusing to make tough cuts and instead raising taxes on working families.

California’s road repairs and transportation improvements can be funded by cutting back elsewhere, he said.
“We’re going to use the money efficiently and cut good deals with contractors,” Cox said. Newsom derided Cox’s approach as unrealistic.

“His plan is to make things worse,” said Newsom.

With the election just a few weeks away, the polls and prognosticators say Newsom is headed for an easy win. However, Cox has shown he’s able to rally conservative voters. His improving poll numbers could make the difference in down ballot races, improving Republicans’ chances in the Congressional midterms as well as for ballot measures such as Prop. 6.

Photo: SAN DIEGO, CA-MAY 5: California GOP Gubernatorial Candidate John Cox (Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)

JUNE 05: Democratic California gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)