Tipsheet

'This Is a Gift to Larry Elder': Top Dem to Campaign with Newsom Ahead of Recall

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  September 06, 2021 10:15 AM

The days are winding down until California’s Sept. 14 recall election and Gov. Gavin Newsom is bringing out big-name Democrats to support him in the final stretch. On Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris will appear with the progressive governor in the Bay Area, which conservatives are pointing out is actually a “gift to Larry Elder.”

The campaign stop is the second time such an event was planned—the first Harris canceled after the terror attack in Kabul killed U.S. 13 service members.

The campaign stop points to continuing concern among Democrats about Newsom’s chances — despite the Golden State’s deep-blue electorate.

California Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly two-to-one — but voter backlash against the governor’s pandemic restrictions has been mushrooming.

Harris, a California native who won statewide elections to the US Senate and to serve as the state attorney general, will be the highest-profile Dem to hit the hustings on Newsom’s behalf. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was set to appear with him in Los Angeles Saturday.

But Harris’s own popularity has been tanking in recent weeks, leaving some Dems worried that she could do more harm than good if she hits the trail for the party’s candidates. (NY Post)

In addition to her tanking popularity in recent weeks as VP, she was so unpopular as a presidential candidate that she dropped out before the California primary, preventing an embarrassing fifth or sixth place finish in her home state.

“The morning Harris withdrew from the race, UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and the Los Angeles Times published a poll that awarded her 7% support in the state among likely primary voters and found that 61% of those voters thought she should drop out of the race," USA Today reported at the time.