On Thursday, California’s Democratic leaders said that the state legislature was ready to cover the estimated $215 million cost that was required to hold the recall election in the state. This will help them to hold the contest at an earlier date. This announcement was made after the cost was tabulated taking into account the individual amounts submitted by each of the 58 counties in the state.
Senate leader Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon released a joint statement which said that the funding will allow for an early recall election. They also mentioned that the Legislature is ready to waive the 30-day review of costs.
This move by the Democrats shows that they are eager to get over with the recall especially since Governor Newsom is polling good figures and there are strong indications that he would survive the recall attempt.
The estimated cost of each county is different the size and population of counties varies. Los Angeles county is the biggest in the state and is home to approximately 10 million Californians. They have projected an election cost of $49 million. Modoc county is a sparsely populated one in the rural northeast corner of the huge state. This county has estimated that the election will cost a fraction of LA county at $36,000.
Democrats are saying that the recall election expenditure is a waste of money. They say that he will stand for reelection if he is overcome the recall election. However, Republicans say that the election costs as money well spent in their effort to remove him from office.
Some estimates say that the number of Republican challengers is growing as the voting date is coming closer. Some of the Republicans who have announced that they will run against Governor Newsom are
- State Assemblyman Kevin Kiley
- Businessman John Cox
- Former Olympic decathlon champion and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner
- Former congressman Doug Ose
- Kevin Faulconer
Although no date has been set to date, the recall vote is expected to take place by fall. California is almost out of the pandemic, there is a budget surplus, Google has billion-dollar investment plans in California. The Democrats are hoping to put the recall attempt on Governor Gavin Newsom behind them at the earliest and continue to open the economy after the long and tiring pandemic.
Image Credit: California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at the California Democrats State Convention in San Francisco, CA on June 1, 2019. “Gavin Newsom” by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
