In the end, it wasn’t even close.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom crushed the effort to recall him, winning himself the second half of his first term and a major mandate for the way he has sought to lead the state through the Covid-19 pandemic. I sifted through the results and came up with some of the biggest hits — and misses — of the campaign that was. They’re below. Hits * Gavin Newsom: Yes, the recall only likely got on the ballot because of a self-induced error by Newsom: Being photographed, unmasked, at a ritzy northern California restaurant even as he was imposing strict Covid-19 measures statewide. And, yes, he probably would have liked to avoid the whole recall fight entirely. But, there’s also no question that such a convincing victory — and the national attention the race drew — gives Newsom a boost both for the remainder of his term and for his near-certain bid for a second term. Also, remember this: National office remains very much on the mind of Newsom. And this recall fight did nothing but help his profile in the activist and donor worlds. * Larry Elder: Ask yourself this: Had you ever heard of Larry Elder before this recall campaign? Yeah, I thought so. While Newsom’s convincing win on the recall question made the « replace » question on the ballot pointless, it is worth noting — as NBC’s Alex Seitz-Wald did — that Elder wound up getting almost 47% of the vote among almost four dozen candidates running to replace Newsom. That’s far above where polling had him — generally in the high 20s — and suggests the Trumpist base of the party turned out for Elder. All of that means that Elder has a future in GOP politics in the state going forward. (The LA Times suggested he had emerged as the « putative leader of the state’s Republican Party.
