Gavin Newsom Records Historic Win

gavin newsom

Gavin Newsom, governor of California made history in the recall election which made him fight for his political life. Voters unmistakably rejected a Trumpist Republican in his place. His main challenger was a popular radio host from the right-wing, Larry Elder. 

Instead of holding a watch party or celebration for election night, Newsom spent his Tuesday night talking to the reporters. He showed his gratitude towards the voters for using their fundamental right and choosing the reasonable side. 

Why Gavin Newsome Won

The recall election was peculiar to Gavin Newsom where he had to prove his seat even after being elected for the first time. He initially tried to dismiss the idea as it could cost nearly $300m to the state. But later he reframed it as the matter of life and death, fighting for vaccines and masks. Joe Biden campaigned with Newsom emphasizing the fact that all the eyes of the nation are on California.

According to voters, the result was more of rejection for Elder than acceptance of Newsom. They did not want California to turn into Texas or Florida where the governor blocked vaccine and mask requirements.

Elder accepted his defeat in Costa Mesa on Tuesday night. But at the early stage of counting where margins started to widen, Elder played the same trick as Trump, spreading rumors about how the counting was rigged. 

Newsom faced a lot of backlash in the early stage which accented to the recall election. In his initial days the governor struggled with keeping schools closed more than the other states, the vaccine rollout was not smooth enough, had to pay $32 bn for fraudulent claims, and the unemployment department facing backlash. All these incidents led to a recall election. 

If Gavin Newsom had won the election by a small margin he would’ve been replaced in the upcoming re-election run, but the historic margin might save him the spot. 

The consequence of this recall election in California is to reform the method or process for the recall election itself. A poll released on Monday showed 75% of the voters wanted to hold on to the process of the recall election. But majority voters proposed several reforms like an increase in the number of signatures to hold a recall, also mentioning reasons to remove the official. 

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