Conservatives in the Golden State are launching another attempt to recall Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to a Monday report from POLITICO.
Reportedly, the group plans to serve Newsom’s office with recall papers this week. He previously beat a recall effort in 2021.
The group behind the effort, Rescue California, reportedly “pointed to Newsom’s ambitions and his role as a super surrogate for President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign” as reasons for the recall effort.
“Gavin Newsom has abandoned the state to advance his presidential ambitions, leaving behind a $73 billion budget deficit and a public safety, immigration and education crisis,” Anne Dunsmore, an Orange County fundraiser and the campaign director for Rescue California, told the outlet.
“California needs a full-time governor who is fully focused on the serious problems the state and its citizens are facing,” Dunsmore said. “This may be our last opportunity to rescue and restore our state, while we highlight for the rest of the country the destruction Newsom has left in his wake.”
Some of the issues that instigated the recall effort include the ways Newsom is handling the illegal immigration crisis (via POLITICO):
Dunsmore and organizers said they were motivated by several policy decisions in California, including the state granting health benefits to undocumented immigrants; laws designed to change the criminal justice system that she said have contributed to crime and the rise of smash-and-grab robberies; high taxes; spending billions of dollars on homelessness and social services that have done little to solve the problem; and prolonged school closures during Covid that led to learning loss.
Nathan Click, a spokesperson for Newsom, said that the administration is “taking it seriously.”
“These Trump Republicans are targeting Gov. Newsom because he is out there defending democracy and fighting for the reelection of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. He’s not going to be distracted from that fight. Democracy’s on the ballot, and he’s going to keep fighting,” he said.
On Twitter, Newsom wrote: “Trump Republicans are launching another wasteful recall campaign to distract us from the existential fight for democracy and reproductive freedom.”
“We will defeat them,” he added.
Trump Republicans are launching another wasteful recall campaign to distract us from the existential fight for democracy and reproductive freedom.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) February 26, 2024
We will defeat them. https://t.co/CdrQXwi9iv
According to POLITICO, recall petitions require signatures equal to 12 percent of the turnout in the last election for governor.