Despite recent favorable polls for Governor Newsom, democracy itself is still on the California recall ballot. This is not hyperbole. The very concept of “democracy” is up for grabs.
If Newsom is knocked out in this $276 million process, then the highest candidate could be elected governor with as few as 25% of the vote. This is plainly not democratic. Newsom was originally elected with 62% of the vote in 2018. So, for the “system” to allow a new chief executive for the state with such low support is undemocratic, unfair, un-American and not acceptable.
No matter if Newsom is kept or not, the California recall process must be reformed (here are some suggested reforms).
But there are favorable and very recent polling. According to a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll cosponsored by the Los Angeles Times released Friday, 60.1% of likely voters surveyed oppose recalling Newsom compared with 38.5% in favor of ousting the governor. Fewer than 2% of likely voters remained undecided or declined to answer, suggesting the issue is largely settled in the minds of California voters.
Also, another new poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that 58% of likely voters surveyed in California oppose removing Newsom from office compared to 39% who support recalling the governor, a gap rooted in the sharp partisan divide between Democratic and Republican voters in the state.
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And POLITICO agrees…today…The dominoes may begin to fall in place on Tuesday to defeat the GOP nationally.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/571746-how-gavin-newsom-fought-back-against-the-recall
The only reason the second part of the ballot doesn’t get a majority vote is because there’s no runoff. If there was a runoff or ranked choice, then one of the replacements would get >50%.
Newsom supporters should be thankful the ballot is written the way it is. Larry Elder leading the polls on vote #2 is is precisely why more people are now backing Newsom on #1.
Ideally the recall vote should be done separately and before the replacement vote, but that would be expensive.