‘We said yes to ending this pandemic.’ Gavin Newsom makes victory speech in Sacramento

Gov. Gavin Newsom made an appearance in Sacramento on Tuesday less than an hour after polls closed to declare victory over the Republican-led recall effort to oust him from office.

Minutes before his arrival, several news agencies, including The Associated Press, declared the first-term Democratic governor had defeated the recall election. As of 10 p.m., polls showed the recall failing, 66.7% to 33.3%.

“No is not the only thing that was expressed tonight,” Newsom said, speaking to dozens of masked reporters in the crowded courtyard of the John L. Burton Democratic Headquarters in Sacramento.

“I want to focus on what we said yes to as a state,” he said. “We said yes to science. We said yes to vaccines. We said yes to ending this pandemic. We said yes to all those things that we hold dear as Californians and I would argue as Americans. Economic justice, social justice, racial justice, environmental justice are the values where California has made so much progress — all of those things were on the ballot this evening.”

During his brief victory speech, Newsom also denounced Trumpism.

“I said this many, many times on the campaign trail. We may have defeated Trump, but Trumpism is not dead in this country,” he said, referring to the political upheaval occurring across the country. “The Big Lie, the January 6 insurrection, all the voting suppression efforts that are happening all across this country.”

“Tonight, I’m humbled, grateful,” he said at the end of his speech. “Thank you for rejecting this recall.”

Afterward, Newsom promptly walked out of the venue, taking no questions from reporters.

This story was originally published September 14, 2021 at 10:16 PM.