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The Vigil: Voters Consider Recalling Newsom

By Ava Cohen

avaocohen@gmail.com

 

Governor Gavin Newsom is facing a republican-backed campaign for his recall in the election on September 14. If Gov. Newsom was to be recalled, radio host Larry Elder, who is a conservative Republican, would most likely replace him. 

While I’m not the biggest fan of Gov. Newsom, I believe a Republican replacement would be even more detrimental to the wellbeing of California residents, especially concerning the pandemic. Gov. Newsom hasn’t handled it in the most efficient way; his scandal with going out to eat at an upscale restaurant without a mask doesn’t help either, but at least we have some chance of pushing for more change while he’s in office. 

Larry Elder, on the other hand, is in favor of abolishing minimum wage, ending welfare and opposes the idea of universal basic income. If he were to be elected with those ideals after a pandemic has left millions of people struggling to survive, we would be even more screwed. 

Fortunately for us, a recent poll conducted among 1,250 Californians shows that 51% of people were planning on voting ‘no’ on the recall, an encouraging comeback after the same polls had shown him losing the vote by double digits a month ago.

In addition to this, the recent poll showed that 83% of Republicans were planning to vote or had already sent in their ballots and 81% of Democrats said the same. This is also a great sign compared to the previous polls where only 62% of Democrats were planning to vote. While the difference between the Republican and Democratic Party usually seems like a fine line to me, this election is one where the Democrats winning could make a vital difference.

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