The origin of the Newsom recall had nothing to do with COVID-19. Here’s why it began

The campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom is quick to point out the governor’s gaffes and failings around COVID-19.

The front page of the campaign website says he “destroyed the lives and businesses of too many hard working Californians.”

On the list of reasons to recall Newsom, his French Laundry dinner is number one. COVID-19 policies, such as enforcing mask mandates, restricting church gatherings, and statewide shutdowns, are mentioned nearly two dozen times as reasons to oust the Democratic governor.

Despite the constant emphasis on Newsom’s coronavirus strategies, however, the recall attempt originally had nothing to do with the pandemic.

Filed in February 2020, at a time when the U.S. had only 20 reported coronavirus cases, the effort was instead focused on California’s high taxes, poverty, and liberal immigration policies.

“Governor Newsom has implemented laws which are detrimental to the citizens of this state and our way of life,” reads the petition, which has been signed by more than 2 million Californians.

“Laws he endorsed favor foreign nationals, in our country illegally, over that of our own citizens.

“People in this state suffer the highest taxes in the nation, the highest homelessness rates, and the lowest quality of life as a result.

“He has imposed sanctuary state status and fails to enforce immigration laws. He unilaterally over-ruled the will of the people regarding the death penalty.

“He seeks to impose additional burdens on our state by the following; removing the protections of Proposition 13, rationing our water use, increasing taxes and restricting parental rights.”

The campaign also says California has the “highest homelessness rate in the nation.” California’s homelessness rate is about 38 per 10,000 people, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, giving it the fifth-highest homelessness rate in the nation, trailing Washington D.C., Guam, New York and Hawaii.

The recall effort was filed in February, but has been collecting signatures since June. Records from the Secretary of State show a strong start with nearly 55,000 signatures turned in by August, but by November, signatures were trickling in.

Californians submitted 352 signatures in the month of August, then 308 in September. October saw just 230 signatures reported.

Between Nov. 5 and Dec. 7, the campaign submitted more than 442,000 signatures. That was also the same month in which Newsom came under fire for attending an unmasked dinner at the swanky French Laundry restaurant in Yountville.

But lead recall proponent Orrin Heatlie said there’s no correlation between the French Laundry and huge jump in signatures. Rather, Heatlie said, the campaign had been holding onto signatures to avoid attention in its early days.

In fact, Heatlie said it frustrates him when people want to talk about the French Laundry incident as an impetus for the recall, given that there are so many other issues he thinks the governor needs to be held accountable for.

Still, he understands the pandemic has played a role in motivating Californians to recall Newsom.

“The recall was started based on his general mismanagement of state resources and perceived corruption within his administration,” he said. “And then his mismanagement of the COVID crisis further exemplifies the need and the reasons behind the recall.”

When asked about undocumented immigrants on Thursday, Newsom took the opportunity to argue that it was his immigration advocacy that actually prompted the recall.

“The real impetus for the recall goes back to my advocacy on behalf of our diverse communities,” Newom said. “You can actually read the petition. People – I hope they read it when they signed it.”

As of March 11, the campaign has submitted 1.8 million signatures, with nearly 1.2 million marked as valid by election officials. At this rate, political watchers expect the recall to hit the 1.5 million threshold that will trigger a recall election.

Steve Maviglio, a California Democratic political consultant said the pandemic definitely contributed to the recall.

“It was the fuel on the fire, the gas in the engine, the match to the blaze, it was everything,” he said. “If you look at the reasons on the petition, I don’t think you’d get more than 50,000 people that would sign that, but throw in the pandemic and off it went.”

Nathan Click, a spokesman for Newsom’s Stop The Republican Recall campaign, said the governor followed science and moved aggressively in response to the pandemic, which saved “countless lives and earned the trust of Californians.”

“Meanwhile, the co-founders and leader proponents of the recall have condemned mask wearing, questioned vaccines and want the government to do less to end the pandemic,” Click said. “Are those the folks we want to put in charge of ending the pandemic?”