Governor Gavin Newsom’s reaction to news that his recall officially qualified for the ballot is an insightful tell about how little regard he has for the collective intelligence of Californians.
On Monday, the California secretary of state announced that enough signatures had been verified to qualify the recall of Gavin Newsom for a future ballot. But that’s certainly not the end of it, as the secretary of state pointed out in a series of Twitter posts.
“On 4/26 the CA Secretary of State’s Office notified counties that the required signatures for a potential recall were reached – what does that mean?”
On 4/26 the CA Secretary of State's Office notified counties that the required signatures for a potential recall were reached – what does that mean? [2/8] https://t.co/8rMWS0mQJA
— CA SOS Vote (@CASOSvote) April 26, 2021
It turns out it means a lot of waiting.
The waiting game commences with 30 business days for people to withdraw their names from the petitions, ten business days for counties to report the names to the secretary of state, and if it still has enough signatures to quality, there will be an unspecified time for the state finance department to come up with how much the recall will cost.
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But wait, there’s more!
After that, there will be another 30 calendar days for the finance department to communicate to the state legislative committee and state officers to draft the cost estimate for the election.
Then there will be another 30-day comment period on the costs. At that point, “Only after that period will the Secretary of State certify the total to the Governor, Lt. Gov, and proponents.”
The Lieutenant Governor is required to call a recall election to be held between 60 – 80 days from the date of certification. [8/8]
— CA SOS Vote (@CASOSvote) April 26, 2021
Tick, tock, tick, tock. We’re not done yet.
Then, the lieutenant governor is required to call a date for the election between 60-80 days from the date of certification.
That’s 180 days, or more than half a year, because of the “business days” calculus. Of course, they could do all of these things in less time, but we’ll wager that won’t happen.
Newsom and company have chosen to blame Republicans for his failures and for the success of the recall campaign.
To remind the governor, the Republican Party in California is the third-largest political party after Democrats and Independents, with 25.1% of the voters in the state.
To the amazing Recall volunteers of every background and political leaning who came together to fight for California: Thank you. You made history. You've given us hope.
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) April 27, 2021
The recall campaign didn’t garner Republican national attention until after one million people had signed petitions.
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But Newsom plans a dramatic pitch to Californians, more than 2.6 million of whom signed their names on the petitions circulating throughout the state. The pitch touts “fighting COVID” as one of his big accomplishments.
This Republican recall threatens our values and seeks to undo the important progress we’ve made — from fighting COVID, to helping struggling families, protecting our environment, and passing commonsense gun violence solutions.
There’s too much at stake.
This Republican recall threatens our values and seeks to undo the important progress we’ve made — from fighting COVID, to helping struggling families, protecting our environment, and passing commonsense gun violence solutions.
There's too much at stake. pic.twitter.com/5ZEszlrcYl
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) April 26, 2021
Unfortunately, the dramatic online pitch does not include a laugh track. One, however, perhaps could be provided by the millions of angry parents ticked off that Newsom cares more about teachers’ union money than opening schools.
There’s little sting in the “Republican recall threatens our values” line because so many people have fled the state to get away from his “values” and “leadership” that the state has lost a congressional seat for the first time in its 170-year history.
Related: Here Are Down and Dirty Reasons Why California Lost a Congressional Seat and Texas and Florida Added in Census
The lengthy time-lapse will allow Newsom to collect his brain trust and conceive of even more insulting ways to fight back against his constituents.
Perhaps the French Laundry has a free meeting room where they could strategize.
EXCLUSIVE: We've obtained photos of Governor Gavin Newsom at the Napa dinner party he's in hot water over. The photos call into question just how outdoors the dinner was. A witness who took photos tells us his group was so loud, the sliding doors had to be closed. 10pm on @FOXLA pic.twitter.com/gtOVEwa864
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) November 18, 2020
The secretary of state’s office disqualified nearly 20% of the signatures on the petitions. Senator Ted Cruz wondered how that’s possible in a Democrat-run state.
I thought signature verification was vote suppression? That’s what Dems told us …..
I thought signature verification was vote suppression?
That’s what Dems told us…. https://t.co/Jab6M3yrMZ
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 27, 2021
There’s still plenty of time on the clock, senator. The battle for California has just begun.
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