California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his allies have spent the past few weeks ahead of Tuesday’s recall making one direct pitch to Democratic voters — „Vote no and go“ — asking them to vote „no“ on ousting Newsom and send their ballots back without bothering to answer the second question about whom they would like to replace him.
For Newsom, an embattled Democratic governor who’s taken heat for his pandemic restrictions as well as the state’s drought and wildfire crises, the strategy is about turnout. Running in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2-to-1, Newsom’s ability to keep his job rests on getting those Democratic voters to return their ballots. Republicans have a clear math problem in the state, but they’ve got enthusiasm on their side in this election, which means the pro-Newsom camp cannot afford for Democratic voters to be apathetic — or even slightly confused about the Golden State’s recall process and its two-sided ballot. Voters will be asked two questions. One, do they want to recall Newsom; and two, whom do they want to replace him? The thinking is that if voters feel confused about the list of more than 40 names of potential Newsom replacements who are largely unknown, they might hold on to their ballots longer or skip voting altogether because they don’t have time to do the „research“ or make an informed decision. So far, Newsom’s gambit seems to be paying off with reams of Democratic voters returning their ballots early. But it has infuriated some of the Democratic replacement candidates like financial analyst and real estate investor Kevin Paffrath, who argue it is undemocratic to convince voters that they don’t have other choices on the ballot. Paffrath and other Newsom critics believe that the advice to skip question two is self-serving — protecting Newsom from the embarrassment of having to face a real Democratic challenger in the recall contest or when he runs for governor again in 2022. „It’s either stupid or sabotage,“ said Paffrath, who has 1.7 million followers on his YouTube channel. He notes that the Newsom team’s effort to get Democratic voters to ignore other candidates has made it hard for him to engage their interest on his ideas to address the housing crisis, homelessness and the cost of living. „I think it’s stupid, because Californians should vote on a backup. If Gov. Newsom loses the recall and Californians didn’t consolidate around a backup Democrat, then you just guaranteed a win for a Republican,“ Paffrath said. He reasoned that if Democrats had consolidated around a backup candidate within their own party, they would „very likely be able to beat any of the Republicans running right now.“ While there are nine Democrats running, none of them are well-known candidates, which has caused some consternation among Democrats who are not close to Newsom about the lack of a fallback option.
