California Governor Gavin Newsom responds to the attempted recall imposed by Californians.

Due to the high unemployment rates, lack of access to education and residents leaving the state in large numbers,  some Californians have taken up an effort to recall Governor Gavin Newsom. The movement’s main complaint being that his response to the COVID-19 pandemic was and still is inadequate. 

The Democrat party and supporters of Newsom have taken up arms to defend his office. ‘Stop the Republican Recall’ movement has been started in an effort to fight the recall, allowing Newsom to hold office full term. 

A petition has been started with 2 million signatures, which is about 7% of California’s registered voters. Only 1,495,709 signatures are required to trigger a recall election in the state of California. 

“I won’t be distracted by this partisan, Republican recall —but I will fight it. There is too much at stake. Getting Californians vaccinated, our economy safely reopened and our kids back in school are simply too important to risk.” Gavin Newsom tweeted Monday morning, including a link to stoptherepublicanrecall.com

The website includes a quick description of their mission to fight the recall. One page on the site describes the recall Newsom supporters as, “A partisan, Republican coalition of anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers, QAnon conspiracy theorists and Trump supporters.”

According to Ed Week, California is one of the few states in the country not permitting students to return to school, accompanied by Delaware and Hawaii. 47 of the US states have allowed schools to reopen. Although 40 of the states left it up to the cities about whether or not students can return to in-person learning.

The state of California has also been struggling with its high unemployment rates of 9%. The current national unemployment rate is 6.2%. The entire country is feeling the effects of COVID-19 on the economy, California is taking one of the hardest hits this year. 

California also faced a wave of people moving out of the state. Los Angeles saw a 96% increase in residents moving out of the city in 2020 compared to 2019, while the state as a whole watched around 87,000 movers leave the state, third to Florida and then New York.  

Other Democratic party members including Senator (D-MA) Elizabeth Warren, have shown Gov. Newsom ample support during his fight with the people of California. 

Warren tweeted on Monday, March 15, “In a naked partisan power grab, extreme right-wing Republicans are trying to recall @GavinNewsom. Why? Because he dares to listen to scientists and fights to put power in the hands of working people. Let’s have Gavin’s back.” She also included the link to the Stop the Republican Recall Website. 

In the midst of criticism, Gov. Newsom also has supporters. California is a leading state with COVID-19 vaccines, having administered over 12 million doses to local Californians and some of the strictest mandates in the country. This is more than any other state with New York following far behind with only 6 million doses. 

Despite high vaccination numbers, Newsom is still receiving high amounts of criticism online from California natives. One Twitter user, @interpolations revealed their frustrations in sharp response to Elizabeth Warren’s tweet stating, “No. False. I’m A New Deal Dem. I signed the recall. Why? Newsom failed to follow pre-March 2020 pandemic guidance. He failed to protect kids, teens and young adults in school. He failed to protect the working class. He failed to lead.”

Newsom’s recall election is expected to be held towards the end of 2021. An extensive set of legal hoops and rules must be sorted out before a date can be set.