Newsom faces new recall by group who says he abandoned CA to 'advance his presidential ambitions'

ByLuz Pena KGO logo

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Newsom faces new recall by group who claims he abandoned CA

California Governor Gavin Newsom is facing another recall attempt less than three years after beating the last one.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- It's deja vu for Governor Gavin Newsom. On Monday, activists successfully launched another attempt to recall him from office.

Governor Gavin Newsom is facing another recall attempt less than three years after beating the last one. The group behind it this time submitting almost 500 signatures to begin the process.

"We got them in three days. They range from mostly just depressed, repressed, and suppressed citizens of the state of California. - along with some leadership in law enforcement and so forth. We are filing and we are not messing around," said Anne Hyde Dunsmore, campaign director for Rescue California.

The group Rescue California accused the Governor of abandoning the state to advance his presidential ambitions pointing to a list of issues across California.

"Highest homeless rates, highest taxes in the country - all of those things are in there as reasons for the recall. Included in that are the safety and education issues. We are the bottom of the list of best educated states in the country," said Dunsmore.

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But granting health benefits to undocumented immigrants and the state's record $73 billion deficit - are their biggest motivators.

"We now have a $73 billion deficit. He is not qualified. Right now, he is not doing his job and he certainly shouldn't be applying for another one," said Dunsmore.

On X, Governor Newsom responded to the recall attempt:

"Trump Republicans are launching another wasteful recall campaign to distract us from the existential fight for democracy and reproductive freedom. We will defeat them."

Some of California's top democrats including Attorney General Rob Bonta, Senators Padilla and Butler, rushed to condemn the recall attempt.

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Luz Pena: "How serious is this recall?"

Melissa Michelson: "It's not very serious. I mean, Gavin Newsom has beat back recalls before. He hasn't done anything scandalous since then and we still have a pretty strong Democratic majority in the state. I'm sure the folks who are doing it think it's serious but it's not really a really big threat."

Menlo College Political Science Professor Melissa Michelson does think while the budget deficit may not get him recalled it could impact Newsom's presidential ambitions.

"I think it's going to be challenging for the Governor to move on to the national stage if he doesn't have a strong economic record in California to build on," said Michelson.

During the 2021 recall attempt, Governor Newsom raised more than $70 million from donors and the recall movement raised $8 million. Professor Michelson said this latest recall could potentially lead to Governor Newsom getting more donors.