The latest Emerson College poll shows support for California Governor Gavin Newsom shrinking. Two months ago, voters — by double digit margins — wanted him to remain as their governor ahead of the upcoming recall vote in September. Now his support has shrunk to just a five-point margin.
In that poll, when voters were asked “to recall or keep Gov. Newsom,” 43 percent said to recall him while 48 percent said they’d keep him, with nine percent undecided.
It gets worse. When asked, “Regardless of the recall effort, would you vote to re-elect Gov. Newsom in 2022, or do you think it is time for someone new?” nearly six out of 10 said it was time for Newsom to go.
It gets even worse. When asked about how he is handling California’s horrendous homeless crisis, more than half rated him “poor.”
And still worse. When asked about how Newsom handled the COVID-19 pandemic, a third rated him “poor” and another 19 percent rated him “fair.” When asked about how he handled the wildfires, more than half rated his response as “poor” or “fair.”
A third rated his response to the current drought as “poor” and another quarter rated it only “fair.”
On Friday, the Ninth Circuit Court ruled against Newsom by declaring that his move to prohibit private schools from holding in-person classes was unconstitutional. “California’s forced closure of their private schools [violates] a right that has long been considered fundamental under the applicable state law: the right of parents to control their children’s education and to choose their children’s educational forum.”
The surge in crime that is directly related to Newsom’s “get out of jail free” rulings for convicted felons and his unilateral announcement suspending the execution of murderers isn’t helping, either. According to Jane Holland, writing for State Crime Watch, voters moving to recall Newsom “joined crime sufferers at the state Capitol on Tuesday to accuse the governor of being too lenient on lawbreakers [resulting in] the state’s … brand new wave of crime.”
Perhaps the death knell was rung when it was announced that Vice President Kamala Harris is supporting Newsom. Wrote Monica Showalter at American Thinker:
Harris is miserably unpopular … with voters, with polls showing that her ratings are underwater….
A normal pol in trouble gets a more popular pol to do some endorsing for him. Not Newsom. He chooses the least-liked politician in America, one who won’t do her job, either on the border or on voting rights, to vouch for him….
[Does it] sound like that will work?
Perhaps the best measure of Newsom’s unpopularity is this: to put a recall measure on the ballot, California required 600,000 signers on the petition. Newsom’s recall got 2.1 million. Add in job losses from business closures and wallet-draining taxes, and his prospects for survival in September are increasingly dim.
In that same poll voters were asked “which candidate would you vote for to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom?” Conservative author and radio show host Larry Elder, initially denied a position on the ballot, leapt into first place, at 16 percent, a full 10 points ahead of his nearest rivals. With 53% undecided, and Newsom’s popularity dropping, Elder could very well be Newsom’s replacement come September.
Related article:
“He’s Got to Go!”: Larry Elder Seeks to Replace Gavin Newsom as Governor of California
