5 takeaways from Newsom’s big win in California’s recall election
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-09-14/5-takeaways-from-the-recall-election-newsom-blowout?utm_source=pocket-newtabA recall campaign that at one point appeared poised to upend Democratic politics in sapphire-blue California concluded Tuesday with the status quo preserved, as Gov. Gavin Newson handily beat back an effort to oust him from office.
A strong GOP showing at the polls on election day could not match Democratic dominance in early voting. Concerns among Democrats over the summer that their party’s voters were more apathetic than highly motivated Republican ones resulted in a torrent of spending on television and outreach efforts to every part of the traditional Democratic coalition, including labor, minorities and women.
The emergence of conservative talk radio host Larry Elder in July provided the perfect foil for Newsom. The governor went from casting the recall as a naked Republican power grab to hammering on a one-on-one contrast with Elder, his decades-long record of inflammatory remarks and his plans if elected to office.
The result was that the California electorate reverted to form and voted as it has in recent gubernatorial elections, giving the Democrat a double-digit victory, with nearly three-quarters of the vote counted.
