no agreement is ready<\/a>. The inability to reopen schools may become another political liability for the governor as he works to preserve his job.<\/p>\nRepublicans haven’t won a statewide election in California since 2006. That year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, himself the earlier beneficiary of the state’s only gubernatorial recall, won re-election after making a sharp turn toward the center. Democrats now hold a 46 percent to 24 percent voter registration advantage over Republicans, and the GOP continues to trade second place with voters who register with no party preference.<\/p>\n
Democrats have supermajority control of both houses of the state Legislature in addition to every constitutional office, an unprecedented level of dominance in California \u2014 a state that gave rise to Gov. Ronald Reagan and Sen. Richard Nixon before the two Republicans entered the Oval Office.<\/p>\n
Republicans face long odds in a straight-up gubernatorial race, and Newsom trounced GOP businessman John Cox in 2018 by a 62-38 margin. But a recall affords more opportunity as a free-for-all contest where a candidate can win with a smaller plurality under the right circumstances.<\/p>\n
The GOP\u2019s recall drive appears to make no secret of goals to unravel California’s most progressive policies. The logo for the RecallGavin2020 campaign posted on the California Patriot Coalition\u2019s website today shows a California bear holding a state map with a litany of popular conservative causes. It says, \u201cNo More … free illegal immigrant health care … gun control … ammo regulations … threatening 2nd Amendment rights … overruling popular votes … threatening Prop. 13,” among other issues.<\/p>\n
It is starting to feel too late for Democrats to stop the recall train. Organizers say they have collected 1.5 million signatures, but need a few hundred thousand more to ensure they have enough that are valid. They have a month left, and they’re beginning to receive national reinforcements, most notably $250,000 <\/b>last week from the Republican National Committee, as POLITICO first reported.<\/p>\n
Joining Glazer and Kounalakis, both moderate, business-friendly Democrats, are some of the state\u2019s most prominent progressive voices \u2014 even those who have had some significant policy differences with Newsom.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not Gavin who\u2019s on the ballot \u2014 it\u2019s California,” said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), the Silicon Valley member who served as the national co-chair for Bernie Sanders\u2019 presidential campaign \u2014 and who has an enthusiastic following among liberal Democrats in the state.<\/p>\n
Progressive activist Joseph Sanberg, a wealthy entrepreneur who has previously talked about a run for public office \u2014 including governor \u2014 said such connections suggest an attack \u201con California values.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThis recall construct … is an anti-democratic vessel for unknown, secretive big money groups to take control of state politics,\u2019\u2019 he charged. “We can’t have a system where a dozen unknown, wealthy, unaccountable people can hijack state politics \u2014 and that’s really what’s unfolding,” he said.<\/p>\n
While Democrats are closing ranks now, there\u2019s still some doubt about whether they will continue to put aside their differences with each other and Newsom. If the recall qualifies, voters will decide two questions on the ballot: whether Newsom should be recalled, and if so, who should replace him.<\/p>\n
Democratic strategist Steve Maviglio recently told POLITICO that Newsom\u2019s more frequent appearances around the state alongside a parade of local Democrats is an effort to keep his party on board \u2014 or \u201cOperation Keep Another Democrat Out.\u201d<\/p>\n
California insiders have a parlor game now centering on whether any Democrats will break ranks and put their names on that second ballot \u2014 in a longshot effort to emerge as the top vote-getter among what could be potentially more than 100 candidates.<\/p>\n
Some recent speculation has centered around state Treasurer Fiona Ma \u2014 one of the two highest-ranking Asian American officials in the state \u2014 and one who is already raising money for future campaigns. But Ma committed to staying out of the race last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m flattered \u2014 but absolutely not,” Ma told POLITICO. \u201cIf the recall makes it, I will not put my name on the recall ballot. I play on Team Gavin, all the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ma says she well remembers the last recall in 2003, when Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante broke ranks and joined the recall ballot to the dismay of his party \u2014 effectively ending his career not long after Schwarzenegger won the plurality of the vote and tossed Gov. Gray Davis from office. She warned that Democrats facing down a gubernatorial recall 13 years later should learn the lesson \u2014 and stand united. \u201cWe need to be focused on beating the recall,” she said, “and keeping Gavin in office.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Sandberg said Democrats \u2014 like it or not \u2014 may have to consider offering alternative candidates on the ballot. He said he has considered a run for office in the past, but isn\u2019t ready to do so this time.<\/p>\n
Still, \u201cDemocrats are going to need to be practical,” he said. \u201cIf there is a recall, that means there’s some chance it’s gonna pass,” and if their voters are given no alternative, they may end up with a Republican governor.<\/p>\n
Khanna has also been mentioned as a possible draw for progressives in a recall. But he dismisses any such effort, saying his goals are centered on the House, where has led opposition to the war in Yemen, among other issues. He said he is 100 percent behind Newsom.<\/p>\n
GOP consultant Rob Stutzman, who served was Schwarzenegger’s spokesperson during the 2003 recall, said he believes a Democrat could join the recall race and avoid serious repercussions. He said voters are less loyal to parties than they used to be.<\/p>\n
Stutzman noted that progressive Democrat Kevin de Le\u00f3n faced little punishment after he challenged Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) for re-election in 2018; indeed, he\u2019s since been elected to the Los Angeles City Council.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I don’t know that there’s a huge risk\u2019\u2019 for Democrats to break ranks and join a recall ballot, he said. They could ask themselves, \u201cIs there a potential upside in a crowded field?\u201d<\/p>\n
Garry South, who was Davis’ political adviser, predicts that in the end, \u201cthere could well be there could well be a registered Democrat \u2014 one or more \u2014 on the ballot.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Newsom has taken the right tack in confronting the recall challenge by steadfastly refusing to discuss the movement and give it credence, South said, while forging ahead with the work of addressing the challenges of the Covid pandemic.<\/p>\n
“His best defense is to be doing now is what he’s doing \u2014 which is doing his job,\u201d South said, which includes opening mass vaccination centers, addressing business and school closures and getting the state into recovery mode.<\/p>\n
“But if the recall qualifies,” he said, “then we have to fight it, tooth and nail.”<\/p>\n
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Source: Politics OAKLAND, Calif. \u2014 California Democrats are suddenly waking up to a nightmarish reality that in their solidly blue state, a small but determined band of GOP activists may… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1175"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}