Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom; has gone from looking like a man in charge to one now fighting to keep his place in office. He has been at the heart of several controversial decisions made in the state; not all of which have been well received, and those decisions may end up seeing him ousted from his position.
Prior to the start of the pandemic; a group of Republicans floated the idea of a recall petition; with that idea now beginning to gain steam in light of recent events. The state of California is lagging behind many other states in the distribution of the vaccine; while at the same time having the Governor surprisingly lift a stay-at-home order that made political news. On top of all that; a state audit revealed several errors that led to some $10 billion in fraudulent unemployment claims.
Earlier this week
Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer (R) started his own bid against Newsom; which has apparently led to Democrats considering what action to take if the voting public does indeed agree that it is time for the Governor to go. California has been hit harder than most states during the pandemic and citizens are growing tired of the restrictions. With Donald Trump now out of office, the blame for the issues is beginning to shift towards Newsom.
While not specifically mentioning the potential recall; a recently released poll put out by the Public Policy Institute of California shows; just how far Newsom has fallen out of favor in the past year. His approval rating among Californians sits at 54%, which is down from 65% last May. He has also lost favor among Democrats, with his support dropping from 86% to 71% since last May. Not surprisingly, he has little support among Republicans in the state, with just 16% approving of Newsom.
While Newsom’s numbers have certainly slipped quite dramatically since this past May; the 54% overall approval rating is going to make it; tough for the Republicans to see success with their recall notice. That, though, may change if the approval rating continues to head in the wrong direction.
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