UPDATE: (AP, Sept. 14, 2021, 8:21PM Pacific) California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has emphatically defeated an attempt to oust him from office, overcoming Republican criticism of COVID-19 restrictions that shuttered schools and businesses. Newsom bolted to a quick victory Tuesday boosted by healthy turnout in the overwhelmingly Democratic state.
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We begin today with an update on the recall election of California Governor Gavin Newsom. Millions of California voters have cast mail-in ballots over the past several weeks. Today (Tuesday) is Election Day in the state, the last day voters can make their sentiments known. As of today, almost 40% of registered voters have already cast their early voting or mail-in ballots, indicating a bigger turnout than some originally expected.
For California, recall elections are not uncommon. Since 1913, there have been 179 recall attempts of elected officials in the Golden State. In the 11 recalls that made it to the ballot, six officials were removed from office. That list includes Democrat Gray Davis, who was replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003.
Joining Tom now is Joe Mathews. He’s a syndicated California columnist for Zócalo Public Square and a founding co-president of the world's leading network for the study of direct democracy, The Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy.
Joe Mathews joins us from Pasadena, California, on Zoom.
