Our View | Newsom Set Stage for Recall

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By The Signal
Editorial Board

Our leaders are elected to represent all of us. And when they fail to uphold that responsibility, there are mechanisms in place for voters to replace them, either in a regularly scheduled election or, in cases of extreme incompetence or malfeasance, through a recall election.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is one of those who have failed to uphold that responsibility. 

Hence, he now faces a recall election Sept. 14 in which California voters will decide whether to allow him to finish his four-year term, or replace him immediately.

He should be replaced immediately, which is why we are advocating a vote in favor of the recall of Gavin Newsom.

The reasons are plentiful: 

Newsom has mismanaged the COVID-19 crisis, through a combination of arrogance, inattention and ineptitude. Under Newsom’s watch, taxpayers were defrauded of billions of dollars in illegitimate unemployment claims, as the Employment Development Department bungled its way through the crisis, leaving many citizens waiting for the unemployment benefits they needed and deserved during the pandemic, while the fraudsters raked in billions.

In fact, if you only wanted one reason to recall Newsom, it could be summed up in that one acronym: EDD. 

The EDD’s archaic systems and methods demanded immediate, decisive action, and none was forthcoming from the governor’s office.

The mismanagement and corruption are unhealable. More than $20 billion in fraudulent claims, $500 million in unemployment checks to felons in prison, and a staggering number of legitimate claims still going unanswered.

Then there was Newsom’s management of the pandemic itself. California has been behind the curve nearly every step of the way, with school and business closures on again, off again, then on again, inflicting undue hardship on California’s students, families and businesses. 

All of this, coupled with Newsom’s own arrogance in the now-famous French Laundry incident, in which he dined at a posh restaurant with his cronies, unmasked and sans social distance.

This, after Newsom had imposed strict rules on masking and restrictions on dining, crippling that segment of the economy.

It was a window into his character. The message was clear: “The rules apply to all of YOU. Not me.”

Remember, this is the same governor who owns millions of dollars’ worth of property, yet is chronically delinquent on his own property taxes.

Meanwhile, California’s schools as a whole are underperforming, and public services are lacking — try getting the EDD on the phone — despite the indisputable fact that Californians are among the nation’s highest-taxed citizens.

And this is not a partisan complaint. Legislative Democrats, behind the scenes, are dissatisfied with their governor. Newsom tries to say the recall is a right-wing recall, but that’s not true. Some 1.7 million people signed the recall petition, from all political stripes.

Some prominent California Democrats — including former state Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, who cites Newsom’s opposition to school choice among her reasons for supporting the recall — have even come out publicly in favor of the recall. 

Ironically, as Newsom — who’s beholden to multiple labor unions, including, notably, the teachers unions — stands in the way of school choice for Californians, and he ordered the closure of schools statewide, he sent his own kids to private school.

It’s good to be the king.

Add all of this to the maladies that have inflicted California not only as a result of Newsom’s shortcomings, but also as a result of one-party rule:

  • Highest sales tax rate in the country.
  • Highest state income tax rate in the country.
  • Highest homeless rate in the country.
  • Highest vehicle registration costs of any state.
  • People are moving out of the state in droves.
  • We spend a fortune on education, yet California ranks 41st in education in the nation.
  • Businesses are moving out in droves.
  • Mandatory health insurance — or, you can be fined and the money pays for health insurance for illegal immigrants, on top of the other benefits they receive after violating U.S. law and disregarding our borders and lawful immigration processes.
  • Government overreach, including overruling the vote of the people to reinstate the death penalty.
  • Redirecting supposedly earmarked funds, like the gas tax, to pay for unrelated “wish list” projects rather than the infrastructure it’s supposed to fund. 
  • Purchasing more than $1 billion worth of faulty face masks from China, instead of American vendors.
  • Salary increases for Newsom and state lawmakers in 2019, followed by a 10% pay cut to all state employees in 2020. 
  • Newsom’s executive order to phase out gasoline-powered cars by 2035.
  • Release of violent criminals as part of misguided justice reform programs.

It’s an extreme step to recall a governor. But Newsom, through his actions and his disregard for those he governs, has earned it.

Clearly, California needs a change in direction.

But it’s a two-part election: As voters decide whether to remove Newsom, they will also decide who will fill the remainder of his term. There are more than 40 candidates on the ballot, and it’s a winner-take-all proposition, with the governor’s term to be completed by the highest vote getter. 

We are endorsing Larry Elder, the front runner going into the election, according to polling.

Elder’s candidacy is appealing on a number of fronts. He’s not a political insider, and we believe Sacramento already has more than enough of those. 

Elder is a Los Angeles native, a graduate of Crenshaw High School, an attorney, conservative radio host and a nationally syndicated columnist. 

He is not a politician. He will represent all Californians, of all races, rather than moneyed special interests. He has bipartisan support and he’s a common-sense leader who believes in school choice to give every child an opportunity to have a solid education.

Larry Elder will govern California sensibly, in a businesslike way. 

After enduring the rule of the autocratic, elitist Newsom, imagine how refreshing that will be.

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