California Gov. Gavin Newsom gave a victory speech on the evening of Sept. 14 to celebrate what appeared to be a likely win in the gubernatorial recall election.
Unofficial results of the 2021 gubernatorial recall election as of 9:35 pm showed Gavin Newsom was likely not recalled and would remain governor of California. Around 66.8 percent of people were counted as voting “no” in the election, according to the California Secretary of State’s Office, while 33.2 percent voted “yes,” with 46.1 percent of precincts partially reporting.
When the Associated Press called the election for Newsom, the noes were leading with 67 percent of the vote.
Though just 62 percent of ballots had been counted, Newsom addressed his supporters at the State Capitol in Sacramento.
“I am humbled and grateful to the millions, and millions of Californians who exercised their fundamental right to vote, and express themselves so overwhelmingly by rejecting the division,” Newsom said.
“An overwhelmingly no vote tonight here in the state of California. That was expressed tonight. I want to focus on what we said yes to as a state,” Newsom said while giving remarks at the state’s capitol.
“We said yes to science. We said yes to vaccines. We said yes to ending this pandemic. We said yes to people’s right to vote without fear of fake fraud or voter suppression. We said yes to women’s fundamental constitutional right to decide for herself what she does with her body and her fate and future,” Newsom continued. “We said yes to diversity. We said yes to inclusion. We said yes to pluralism. We said yes to all those things that he we hold dear as Californians and I would argue as Americans. Economic justice, social justice, racial justice, environmental justice. Our values, where California’s made so much progress. All of those things were on the ballot this evening.”
He also called out former President Donald Trump for suggesting that the election would be ‘rigged.’
‘Democracy is not a football. You don’t just throw it around. It’s more like, I don’t know, an antique vase. You can drop it and smash it in a million pieces. And that’s what we’re capable of doing if we don’t stand up and meet the moment,’ Newsom said.
Newsom said while Californians voted “no” on the recall, they said “yes” to his administration’s goals.
“We said yes to all those things that we hold dear as Californians and I would argue as Americans—economic justice, social justice, racial justice, environmental justice, our values,” Newsom said in his speech. “All of those things were on the ballot this evening.
Larry Elder received the most votes at 43.6 percent among candidates who would have replaced Newsom if he was recalled.
In the 2018 gubernatorial election, Gov. Gavin Newsom was elected by the widest margin in an election race since 1950. Since his time in office, Newsom has faced criticism for his decisions to close prisons, suspend the death penalty, enforce vaccine mandates, and enforce COVID-19 statewide restrictions.
The grassroots effort to recall the governor began in 2020, more than a year before the recall petition cleared on June 23, 2021 and state officials confirmed there were over 1,495,709 signatures, the amount required to hold a special recall election.
In previous interviews with The Epoch Times, recall organizers attributed the impetus of the recall campaign to the governor’s decisions regarding COVID-19 state-mandated shutdowns and restrictions.
At the height of the pandemic in Nov. 2020, Newsom received backlash after attending a party at the French Laundry restaurant without wearing a mask and with visitors from multiple households—despite telling state residents to stay home and avoid holiday gatherings.
Following the French Laundry incident, county registrar offices reported an increase of recall petition signatures by 596,721.
As the pandemic continued, California continued to release unemployment funds to residents whose jobs have been lost due to the pandemic. As those eligible received additional funds, it was discovered more than $31 billion in EDD funds were claimed by scammers, including prison inmates.
Amid the recall process, Newsom also faced critics who opposed his decision to allow for 76,000 state inmates, including violent criminals and repeat felons to exit prison earlier than their release date through the help of Proposition 57 that allows inmates to receive credits for good behavior.
This is an excerpt from The Epoch Times.