Politico: “Elder was such a gift to Newsom that even many Republicans acknowledged he was tanking what little shot the GOP had at recalling the governor.”
“But it was Elder, easily portrayed by Newsom as a Donald Trump clone, whom the Republican base loved. Faulconer and other more moderate Republicans didn’t stand a chance.”
Former Rep. Dennis Kucinich‘s (D-OH) latest campaign for Cleveland mayor came to an end Tuesday night, when he failed to earn one of the top two spots in the primary, WJW reports.
“A historically diverse mayoral field has been whittled down to a pair of candidates who will advance to the final round on Nov. 2: City Councilors Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George, unofficial vote tallies from 100 percent of city precincts show,” the Boston Globe reports.
“The two women of color, who have struck dramatically different tones on the campaign trail so far, both claimed enough votes to get over the first hurdle Tuesday night. They’re now on track for the general election after puzzling delays by the city in posting results.”
Former President Donald Trump claimed without evidence that the California recall against Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is likely “rigged”, suggesting that the widespread use of mail ballots will ensure a victory for the Democrat, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Said Trump: “It’s probably rigged. The ballots… are mail-in ballots… I guess you even have a case where you can make your own ballot. When that happens, nobody’s gonna win except these Democrats. The one thing they are good at is rigging elections, so I predict it’s a rigged election.”
New York Times: “The first-term Democratic governor will remain in office because, in a deeply liberal state, he effectively nationalized the recall effort as a Republican plot, making a flame-throwing radio host the Trump-like face of the opposition to polarize the electorate along red and blue lines.”
“Mr. Newsom found success not because of what makes California different but because of how it’s like everywhere else: He dominated in California’s heavily populated Democratic cities, the key to victory in a state where his party outnumbers Republicans by five million voters.”
“Gavin Newsom waited with his family Tuesday night as polls closed across California for the state’s second-ever gubernatorial recall election, with early returns showing the Democratic governor beating the recall by double digits,” the Sacramento Bee reports.
“Just minutes after polls closed, the recall was trailing, with 30.6% voting yes, and 69.4% voting no.”
Based on these early returns, CNN, NBC News and CBS News project Newsom will easily defeat the recall attempt.
Polls close in California’s recall election at 11 p.m. ET.
New York Times: “Depending on the number of early ballots and the amount of in-person voting on Tuesday, the math could be clear within a few hours of when the polls close, election experts say. But if the race is tighter than expected, weeks could pass while the counting drags on.”
As the votes come in, leave your reaction in the comments.
Aaron Blake: “It’s recall day in California, and by just about all accounts — including their own — Republicans are headed for defeat.”
“Top GOP contender Larry Elder’s campaign is already bogusly blaming his loss (which hasn’t actually happened yet) on voter fraud. Former president Donald Trump has also preemptively and wrongly blamed the loss on fraud, apparently having learned no lessons from the Georgia Senate runoffs about what message that might send to would-be GOP voters.”
“The idea that Republicans would fall short in California, of course, isn’t terribly surprising. It’s a blue state. But it’s also a blue state in which they proactively picked this fight. And the margin by which they lose could wind up being historically significant (with the caveat that polls can be unreliable, especially in unusual races like this.)”
Before the results of the California recall election are even tabulated, Larry Elder (R) appeared to be already conceding defeat by blaming his loss on false claims of voter fraud, the Sacramento Bee reports.
“This is not hyperbole: The eyes of the nation are on California. Because the decision you’re about to make isn’t just going to have a huge impact on California, it’s going to reverberate around the nation. And quite frankly, it’s not a joke, around the world.”
— President Biden, quoted by the Los Angeles Times, campaigning against the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
On the final day of the campaign, the FiveThirtyEight’s polling average shows 57.4% of California voters opposed to recalling Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), while 41.5% support removing him.
Playbook: “If Newsom prevails, he will have breathed new life into his own political career while also offering Democrats a potential strategy as they head into the midterm headwinds: tapping into vaccinated voters’ frustrations with the ongoing pandemic.”
Former President Donald Trump explicitly and falsely claimed in a statement that the California recall election is rigged.
New York Times: “As a wave of recent polling indicated that Mr. Newsom was likely to brush off his Republican challengers, the baseless allegations accelerated. Larry Elder, a leading Republican candidate, said he was ‘concerned’ about election fraud. The Fox News commentators Tomi Lahren and Tucker Carlson suggested that wrongdoing was the only way Mr. Newsom could win. And former President Donald J. Trump predicted that it would be ‘a rigged election.'”
“This swift embrace of false allegations of cheating in the California recall reflects a growing instinct on the right to argue that any lost election, or any ongoing race that might result in defeat, must be marred by fraud. The relentless falsehoods spread by Mr. Trump and his allies about the 2020 election have only fueled such fears.”
Washington Post: “California is one of three Democratic-led states — the others are Virginia and New Jersey — holding statewide elections this year. In each state, party leaders acknowledge that in past elections Trump polarized and motivated voters that they had never won before his presidency. Democrats worried that his absence from the ballot, along with their party’s historic difficulties in turning voters out in nonpresidential elections, would threaten their chances.”
“Yet in all three, Democrats say they believe that the ex-president, who has hinted at a third run in 2024, still has power to mobilize liberal voters and keep suburban moderates in the Democratic tent, even if he is no longer on the ballot or in office. The recall will be the first test of whether they’re right.”
Politico: “Though Covid-19 is still afflicting the nation, Democrats in all three of the upcoming gubernatorial contests… have extensive field operations, as do down-ballot candidates and battleground state parties preparing for competitive 2022 elections.”
“It is a notable shift from last year’s elections, when Biden held off deploying field staffers until about a month before the election amid concerns about the coronavirus, while Republicans largely continued field work as normal. After a disappointing year down-ballot, Democrats say they can’t leave anything to chance with competitive off-year elections this fall.”
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A new UC Berkeley poll finds California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is likely to retain his office and defeat the recall election next week by more than 20 points, 60% to 39% among likely voters.
A new SurveyUSA poll in California finds 54% opposed to recalling Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), while 41% support a recall.
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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