If you live and vote in California, I hope by now you've heard that there is an election happening on September 14th. You may have even gotten your ballot in the mail already.
An election? In September? Yes. A stupid one.
You see, some Republicans got Big Mad at Governor Gavin Newsom when he made the decision to lockdown the state last year at the beginning of the pandemic. They decided to start a petition to remove (recall) him from office. California's state constitution allows voters to remove the governor via recall election if they get enough signatures.
How many signatures, you ask? 12% of the total votes cast in the previous election for the office of the person being recalled, or in this case, 1.5 million.
Yeah. That's all. Out of a state of nearly 40 million people. A state that is the 5th largest economy in the world.
Just 1.5 million people need to sign an official recall petition for a statewide vote to remove the governor from office.
(If you didn't know, a recall election is how California got Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor in 2003.)
If a simple majority (50% + 1 vote) of voters choose YES on their ballots, Gavin Newsom will be removed from office and whomever of the 46 candidates on the ballot gets more votes than anyone else (not even a majority vote, just more than the other candidates) will become California's new governor.
The current (as of today, August 20th) frontrunners are a very right-wing talk radio host named Larry Elder, and a real estate broker/YouTube personality named Kevin Paffrath. Neither have what you would call "political experience."
(Caitlin Jenner is also running. Just in case you were wondering.)
How do you get on a recall ballot in California? To replace the governor, the highest office in the state? Well, you need to complete the arduous task of forking over about $4000 and getting 7500 signatures of real Californians saying they back you as a candidate.
Yeah. That's all.
Oh, and just having this election is costing CA taxpayers over $250 million dollars.
So what's at stake if Newsom gets recalled?
Majority control of the US Senate.
You see, Senator Dianne Feinstein is 88 years old this year. She's been Senator since 1992. If she falls too ill to continue her duties, if she resigns, if she dies while in office, California does not hold a Senatorial election.
The governor appoints a replacement.
This is how we got our current junior Senator, Alex Padilla, after Kamala Harris was inaugurated as Vice President.
Let me say that again.
The governor appoints a replacement Senator if Dianne Feinstein cannot complete her term.
If enough people vote to recall Gavin Newsom, and a Republican, or Libertarian, or, let's be honest, any inexperienced wet sack that can be bought off by the highest bidder, takes his place, they will very possibly appoint a Republican Senator to replace Dianne Feinstein and put that fuckface Mitch McConnell back in control of the US Senate.
So please, please, if you're a Californian, make sure you're registered to vote, get your ballot, and vote NO on this stupid waste of money recall election.
The 12 questions that help explain the historical, political and logistical forces behind the effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom of Californ
More info:
www.sfgate.com/gavin-newsom-recall/amp/Gavin-Newsom-recall-poll-support-Elder-Paffrath-16390077.php
Voter guide:
https://www.kqed.org/recall
And more: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-08-18/vote-recall-election
"78 percent of registered Republicans said they were “very interested” in voting in the recall, while only 47 percent of registered Democrats said the same. And while Newsom could theoretically take comfort in that 57 percent approval rating in the CBS News poll, that figure won’t help him unless people vote who don’t seem particularly inclined to." https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/08/california-recall-election-newsom-ballot-mess.amp
