What started as a quixotic grassroots effort to sack California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, is gaining traction from an infusion of tech industry money and support. The signature drive is likely to succeed, and Newsom now faces the prospect of a recall election. (Read story here.)
Newsom rose through San Francisco politics, and that city (and nearby Silicon Valley) remains his base. While his stay-at-home orders were unpopular, they helped contain Covid-19 for a time, but now the pandemic is raging in Los Angeles, and the state is struggling with its vaccine rollout.
But the biggest knock against Newsom is a perception of hostility to tech companies. One of the loudest complainers is Elon Musk, who relocated Tesla to Texas. Newsom still has many Silicon Valley supporters, and the money is mostly coming for the usual gang of well-known rightwing tech-wealth activists. Getting a recall on the ballot is one thing; whether promoters could defeat Newsom at the polls is something else.
If they manage to do so, it won’t be the first time; efforts to oust former California governor Gray Davis made Arnold Schwarzenegger, who identified as a Republican, the governor of America’s largest and most Democratic state. But can the California GOP find and recruit another movie star with Schwarzenegger’s popularity and name recognition? And will Californians vote in any Republican, in the age of Trump?
Photo: Newsom, Trump, and wildfire ashes
I am sure the folks backing the recall have at least one candidate in the wings. Seems there were plenty of candidates in the last recall election.
Why not an actress? I am sure there is a Republican or two who are actresses.