A victory for the Democratic Governor of California, Gavin Newson. And also for President Joe Biden, who had campaigned for him on the eve of the vote and counted on his success to give a boost to the majority party one year before the elections for the renewal of Congress.
Clear victory for Newsom
Newsom came out with his head held high from the clash at the polls with the Republicans who had sponsored the campaign for his “recall”, a referendum procedure that allows you to “revoke” the mandate of the governor and replace him with the most voted among the aspirants who present. With most of the ballots scrutinized, Newsom’s lead in the most populous state and with the largest economy in the country was around thirty points, 64% versus 36% – considered insurmountable.
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Elder, a lent opponent from radio to politics
As many as 46 candidates had presented themselves as an alternative, led by the radio personality, African American and ultra-conservative, Larry Elder, denounced by the Democrats as a “clone” of former President Donald Trump. The reconfirmed governor wasted no time in claiming a consensus on the agenda and values promoted by the Democrats in opposition to what he called “Trumpism”. “The no to revocation is not the only message of this vote – said Newsom -. We said yes to science. Yes to vaccines. Yes at the end of the pandemic. Yes to the right of all to vote without fear of false accusations of fraud and suppression of ballots. Yes to the fundamental and constitutional right of women to decide on their own body, on their destiny and future. Yes to diversity ».
The democratic advantage
In California, the Democrats actually started out with a definite advantage. Party members are twice as many as Republican rivals. No Republican has held elective office at the state level for ten years now. But the party was equally anxious about the results. California’s weight as a barometer of national mood cannot be underestimated: its three trillion-dollar-a-year economy alone would be the fifth in the world.
Fear of the apathy of the democratic base
Democrats feared the repercussions of a decline in enthusiasm and popularity for Biden, amid continued pandemic and tensions over the dramatic withdrawal from Afghanistan, would keep the democratic base out of the polls. Newsom himself had also been shaken by controversy, when last year he violated the obligation to wear a mask at a dinner with benefactors of his campaigns at a well-known restaurant, French Laundry. Californian Democrats. In 2003, Governor Gray Davis lost a recall to Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, the state has changed since then: it has strengthened its reputation as a progressive bastion and increased its demographic diversity, with a continuous growth of minorities. And the candidates in the running are very different: Newsom is not Davis, for charisma and history, with a past as mayor of San Francisco where he pioneered marriage licensing for the homosexual community. Nor is Elder Schwarzenegger, by popularity and political positions, moderate in the case of the former Hollywood star.