Written By Miguel Palacios
The battle continues between concerned California residents and supporters of current Governor Gavin Newsom. Late last year, unrest began to build as Newsom refused to reopen California for business, and residents started losing their jobs and businesses. It was with this issue that the Recall Newsom effort began. Initially, the main obstacle was obtaining the necessary 1.5 million signatures required to qualify for the ballot. As we reported last February, the recall campaign attained the necessary signatures. The state allows a grace period that allows voters to rescind their signatures if they changed their minds. Even so, the campaign has retained enough supporters to go forward with their objective, removing and replacing Governor Newsom.
The loyal supporters of Newsom want people to believe that this recall is a totally biased, Republican power grab, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Recall Newsom Campaign consists of a totally multi-party makeup. There are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, etc. Voters from all walks of life. What Newsom and his camp don’t want to face is the hard reality that he has dissatisfied people from every side, not just his opponents.
Anne Dunsmore is the campaign manager and chief fundraising vehicle for Rescue California. Both sides of the battle had to recently report to the Secretary of state their fundraising activities, including a list of large donors and the amount of funds donated by smaller donors. And though the recall side has raised more than their opponents, $5.45Million to $4.56Million, the reports show they have spent much more than them as well. Dunsmore asserts that there is nothing to be concerned about and emphasizes that this is normal and necessary. The point of the fundraising was to get the mandatory signatures to get the vote on the ballot. That’s going to take money because it takes a lot of manpower. She commented, “If I had finished the signature gathering with a surplus, shame on me… they’re gonna have to spend a whole lot more to win than we’re gonna have to spend to beat him.”
The point is that the money was used for its intended purpose, to gather the necessary signatures. The funding has not dried up, as more can be collected. There are also the opponents Newsom might have to face when the vote goes to the ballot. As of yet, there are only three major competitors for Newsom’s seat. San Diego’s former mayor, Kevin Faulconer, Newsom’s 2018 opponent, Jon Cox, and former Olympic gold medalist, Caitlyn Jenner. Each competitor has secured funding or the ability to secure funding already, aside from the Rescue California efforts.
Now that the voters are aware of the incompetence that is Gavin Newsom, there is no going back. As Anne Dunsmore opined, “It is laughable that he doesn’t know how much trouble he is in… Everybody smells blood in the water now. I don’t care what the polls say.”
