In an appearance on “The View” on Tuesday, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom of California responded to efforts by citizens of his state to recall him and hold a special election to replace him.
If the people who are attempting to recall the governor reach the number of signatures that they need, there will be a vote held in order to choose a new candidate to take his place.
When Newsom was asked about the recall effort, he noted how he has only been in office for 25 months, but there have been 6 recall efforts made against him. He also acknowledged that this one does appear to have enough signatures but stated that the effort is not against him as much as it is against Democratic Party values.
He said that the list of grievances made by those who wish to recall him revolve around “issues related to the browning of California, immigration, issues related to low-carbon green growth, our climate policies, issues related to our advancement to end the death penalty or increase the minimum wage or advance pay equity.”
He also stated that the members of the movement are involved with fringe views and have ties to conspiracy theories, saying, “The top 10 proponents, the people who are behind this, are members of the 3-percenters, the right-wing militia groups, the Proud Boys, supported the insurrection, are folks that quite literally, enthusiastically support Qanon conspiracies,” he said. “So that’s the origin here.”
Last month, the Los Angeles Times reported that there have been connections between the effort and some extremist groups regarding the gathering of signatures.
Orrin Heatlie, the leader of the recall effort, responded to inquiries from The Times, saying that the entire movement is not responsible for each person’s choices. “Do we have to denounce everybody that is involved to move it forward? Or do we just move forward and ignore those other elements?” he asked.
“Am I worried about it? Of course, I’m worried about it,” Newsom said regarding the recall effort. “The nature of these things, the up or down question, the zero-sum nature of the question is challenging…so we’re taking it seriously.”
On Monday, Newsom tweeted a link to a website aimed at stopping the recall attempt. The governor wrote, “I won’t be distracted by this partisan, Republican recall — but I will fight it. There is too much at stake. Getting Californians vaccinated, our economy safely reopened, and our kids back in school are simply too important to risk.”
I won’t be distracted by this partisan, Republican recall — but I will fight it.
There is too much at stake.
Getting Californians vaccinated, our economy safely reopened, and our kids back in school are simply too important to risk.
Join us: https://t.co/Jfpe1IlF4m
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 15, 2021
During his appearance on “The View,” Newsom added, “I have to do my job every single day, but I’m gonna fight this thing because I’m gonna fight for California values and the things I hold dear and I think the vast majority of Californians, regardless of their political stripes, hold dear.”
The recall election of Newsom is increasingly likely as the group stated last week that it has reached more than 2 million signatures. If the signatures continue to be valid — as they were at almost 84% last month — this would indicate that a special election would be held. The registrars of voters in all 58 counties of the state must finish analyzing the petitions by late April, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“We have cleared another milestone,” Orrin Heatlie said in a written statement last week. “Politics as usual in California are over as we know it to be.”