Republicans taking aim at run for California governor if Newsom recall succeeds

Republicans taking aim at run for California governor if Newsom recall succeeds
California Gov. Gavin Newsom

Republicans in the Golden State are announcing their intentions to back a candidate for governor should the recall effort against Democrat Gavin Newsom succeed.

The Los Angeles Times reports that businessman John Cox, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, and registered independent Mike Cernovich all intend to challenge Newsom.

Cox, who lost to Newsom in the 2018 gubernatorial race, cited the Democratic governor’s failed leadership as reason to step in saying, “The state is in crisis.”

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Faulconer, whom the Times describes as “the most prominent challengers to Democrat Newsom,” has already raised roughly $1 million for the cause. “It’s time to restore balance and common sense to California,” he said, adding, “People don’t really care about partisanship right now. What people care about is leadership and somebody who is going to fix things and get results.”

Cernovich acknowledged his chances of winning a recall race were remote but declared he had a different goal in mind. In a Periscope video announcing his bid, Cernovich provided criticism of Newsom one could expect from a “provocateur.”

“There’s a zero percent chance I could win the election,” he said. “I have no delusion about that, but if I can get enough of a base of support I can force [Newsom] … to answer for his war crimes, his human rights violations.”

The recall petition for Newsom must receive 1.5 million verified signatures by March 17, a number well within reach.

The petition accuses Newsom of favoring “foreign nationals, in our country illegally, over that of our own citizens,” and mentions California currently suffers with the “highest taxes in the nation, the highest homelessness rates, and the lowest quality of life as a result.”

Newsom’s Approval Tanking

Gavin Newsom’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic may be what is truly driving the effort to recall him. He has been accused of moving too slowly in reopening businesses after California crushed the curve in the spring of 2020.

In addition, he was widely viewed as a hypocrite for failing to follow his own lockdown rules, attending a maskless indoor dinner at a restaurant known as The French Laundry with roughly 22 people.

Fox News cites a Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies survey of over 10,000 registered voters in California in reporting that only “46 percent approve of Newsom’s job performance – a sharp decline from the 64 percent approval rating he held last September.”

Cox railed against Newsom’s failures in vaccine distribution and said it was “the last straw” in drawing him into the race.

“I’m just not sitting back and watching this,” he said. “I’m going to actually do something about it.”

Cross posted at the Mental Recession

Rusty Weiss

Rusty Weiss

Rusty Weiss is editor of the Mental Recession, one of the top conservative blogs of 2012. His writings have appeared at the Daily Caller, American Thinker, FoxNews.com, Big Government, the Times Union, and the Troy Record.

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