Written by Jamie Parsons
Money from both sides of Governor Newsom’s recall is piling up; however, those who are in support of the Governor have inched ahead. After a grand donation of $3 million, the CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings, upended the financial battle between the “pro” and “anti” Newsom recall campaigns.
The California Democratic Party is rallying to Newsom’s defense and has a lot of money to spend. Lots of money has been coming from Sacramento and cities with large unions such as the United Nurses Associations. The California Labor Federation’s executive council is expected to vote on whether to take a position on the recall next week, but as an ally to the state Democratic Party, it is expected for them to side with Newsom. According to Cal Matters, “Steve Smith, a federation spokesperson said it’s too early to talk exact figures, but that the union umbrella group plans to make ‘a significant investment.’ ” So far the pro-Newsom side has collected $10.6 million and plans to strengthen their support team.
Although unions are usually in favor of the Democrat Party, the Service Employees International Union announced they would not be supporting Newson during the recall due to the governor’s decision to enact pay cuts in the early months of the pandemic.
So far the pro-recall side has raised $4.7 million, mostly which have been coming from GOP backers and lower-profile millionaires. John Kruger, co-founder of the men’s golf and tennis apparel company and largest single contributor to the recall, supports the recall because of the health restrictions on religious gatherings.
A main reason as to why fundraising in support for Newson’s recall campaign has fallen short in the race against those opposing the election is because they had to separate their money into two stages. The first was getting the recall on the ballot and the second was the campaign itself. Efforts to generate money towards their second goal have seen to be lower than the efforts to accomplish the first goal.
Due to the pandemic coming to an end there are fewer opportunities for Newson to aggravate Californians. Newsom’s approval numbers are holding steady and no clear favorite has emerged among the would-be replacement candidates. According to Cal Matter, “A statewide poll published this week by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that 54% of likely voters approve of the governor’s job performance and that only 40% support removing him from office.” In order for Republicans to generate more money and raise excitement for the recall, they have to remind Californians of the times Newsom has limited our human rights and destroyed our economy.
