Months after over 1.7 million Californians signed a petition to recall California Governor Gavin Newsom; the election is finally underway. While frantic Democrats such as Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren attempt to rally behind a wounded Newsom, their deceitful advertisements and smear campaigns should not overshadow the havoc that Newsom has wreaked upon the state of California. These are the 14 main reasons to recall Gavin Newsom on September 14th.
First, Newsom instated sweeping lockdowns across the state of California that crippled the state’s economy and led to millions of job losses. Despite Newsom’s claim that California’s economy is “roaring back,” California has regained less than 60% of the jobs they lost due to Newsom’s lockdown. Furthermore, as a result of Newsom’s lockdown, nearly one in three California restaurants have been forced to permanently close, most of which being small businesses. Amid this crisis and strict lockdown rules, Newsom decided that it was a great time to violate the protocols that he created and dine maskless at the French Laundry restaurant in Yountville, California, on November 6, 2020. Newsom dined with his Democrat lobbyists and enjoyed extravagant food that cost a minimum of $350 per plate, all while Californians were confined to their homes and told to follow guidelines outlined by Newsom that he himself was unwilling to follow.
Additionally, Newsom attacked the religious liberties of Californians by restricting indoor church services and forcing many religious Californians to conform to virtual prayers and services. After nearly one year of this tyrannical ban, the Supreme Court ruled that Newsom’s ban violated the freedom to exercise religion outlined in the Constitution. Following the ruling, Newsom was forced to pay nearly $1.4 million as part of a settlement in a lawsuit that challenged his restrictions. It should be noted that, while churches were being targeted by Newsom and largely barred from holding in-person services, marijuana dispensaries and strip clubs in California were exempt from Newsom’s restrictions and allowed to remain open after being deemed “essential.”
Next, under the leadership of Gavin Newsom, California’s Employment Development Department has sent up to $31 billion in fraudulent unemployment payments, including over $100 million that was wrongfully paid to prison and jail inmates. Meanwhile, Californians who have legitimate unemployment claims and were unemployed as a direct result of Newsom’s policies have been forced to suffer through processing and payment delays. This is an ongoing and active issue as the California EDD reports that over 180,000 claims made within the past 21 days are currently backlogged.
Furthermore, amidst the economic crisis that Newsom created, he decided to cut pay by nearly 10% for approximately 130,000 California state workers, including thousands of firefighters. The pay cuts took effect in July of 2020 and lasted until July of 2021. Newsom had pledged to decrease his salary by approximately 10% as well to “lead by example.” However, this never happened. In 2020, Newsom received his full $210,000 salary. To make matters worse, Newsom raised the salaries of all state elected officials by 4.2% in June, increasing his personal salary to approximately $218,500.
Instead of putting American citizens in California first, Newsom has invested a great amount of his energy fighting for illegal immigrants. To begin with, Newsom has allowed California to maintain its status as a “sanctuary state” for illegal immigrants. This means that Newsom and his administration have forbidden local law enforcement in California from complying with federal immigration authorities in their efforts to deport non-citizens. Newsom has even gone as far as banning arrests for immigration violations across the state of California. Newsom has also egregiously allowed illegal immigrants to serve on state government commissions and boards. Newsom’s rewards for those who violate America’s immigration laws do not stop there. Back in April of 2020, Newsom announced a new $125 million program dedicated to providing cash payments to illegal immigrants. The program was supported by $75 million in taxpayer funds and $50 million from a group of charities. The program provided approximately 150,000 adults, illegal immigrants, $500 each, with a $1,000 cap being placed on total payments per household. Lastly, on July 27, 2021, Newsom signed AB-133 into law. The legislation allows eligible illegal immigrants aged 50 or older to receive taxpayer-funded Medi-Cal insurance. The move is expected to cost California taxpayers upwards of $1.3 billion.
Homelessness is rampant in California. Since Newsom took office in January of 2019, overall homelessness in California has increased by over 25%. There are currently at least 161,548 adults experiencing homelessness in California, with at least 11,401 of them being U.S. veterans. An additional 271,528 K-12 students are currently experiencing homelessness in California, with very few of them receiving adequate aid from Newsom or his administration. Despite the fact that California represents just 12% of the total U.S. population, 28% of America’s homeless individuals reside in California.
Crime in California has spiraled out of control since Newsom became Governor in January of 2019. Since taking office, Newsom has overseen a 0.8% increase in statewide violent crime, a staggering 31% surge in statewide homicides, an 8.4% uptick in statewide aggravated assaults, a 19.4% rise in statewide motor vehicle thefts, and a 42.2% upswing in statewide arson. Considering these increases, California now has a violent crime rate that is 19.1% higher than the national average. According to a recent poll, 68% of Californians believe that rising crime is an important issue ahead of the critical recall election, spelling trouble for Newsom.
Amidst California’s crime surge, Newsom has helped expedite the release of at least 76,000 California inmates, including repeat and violent felons. Over 17,000 California inmates were released early in 2020, including convicted murderers and rapists. Furthermore, Newsom pardoned 14 people and commuted sentences for 13 other individuals in March of 2021. Among those granted pardons or commuted sentences by Newsom include a man who stabbed an elderly woman to death, a man who murdered a gas station worker during an armed robbery, a kidnapper who murdered two of his victims, a woman convicted of a fatal assault on a baby, a man convicted of fatally stabbing his pregnant wife, a woman convicted of intentionally lighting her home on fire and killing her three children, and two non-citizens convicted of killings. More recently, in August of 2021, Newsom allowed for the release of a man convicted of murdering a disabled California man after stabbing him and burying him alive.
Since taking office in January of 2019, Gavin Newsom has signed over 250 executive orders and proclamations. Among the executive orders signed into law by Gavin Newsom is a ban on the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles that goes into effect in 2035. Newsom also used his emergency powers to sign an executive order in May of 2020 that mandated that each county in California send every registered voter a mail-in ballot for the November general election. Newsom enacted each executive order without approval from the California State Legislature. This makes Newsom appear to be governing as a tyrannical dictator.
After becoming governor, Newsom took an array of actions against gun owners and enacted even more radical gun-control laws in the already restrictive state of California. Restrictive actions that Newsom has taken against guns and gun owners include signing AB-61 into law, which expanded those eligible to file gun violence restraining orders to include school teachers, employers, and coworkers. This opens the door for gun violence restraining orders and subsequent losses of guns and ammunition that deprive the accused of due process and are based merely on third-party allegations instead of actual evidence of criminal activity. Furthermore, Newsom signed AB-1297 into law in October of 2019. The legislation removes the $100 cap previously placed on processing fees for concealed firearm licenses, allowing for concealed permit applicants to be charged exorbitant fees. Lastly, Newsom signed SB-61 into law back in 2019, which prohibits the sale of all firearms in California to those under the age of 21. The bill also forbids Californians from purchasing more than one rifle or handgun within 30 days. Like many of his fellow Democrats, Newsom is on a clear mission to make it as hard as possible to legally own a firearm and as easy as possible for authorities to forcibly take firearms from Californians with little to no legitimate evidence.
Gavin Newsom was the first governor in the U.S. to issue a statewide stay-at-home order due to COVID-19 in March of 2020. This order effectively closed K-12 schools and college campuses throughout the state of California. These school closures led to surges in depression, suicide attempts, and drug overdoses among California’s youth. The school closures and forced remote learning also led to poorer overall academic performances among students, with a dramatic increase in students receiving “F” grades being reported in school districts across the state. According to a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Newsom’s forceful shutdown of private schools in California violated “The right of parents to control their children’s education and to choose their children’s educational forum.”
Gas prices in the U.S. are out of control, but this is especially true in California. On average, a gallon of gasoline currently costs $4.40 in California. This means that gas prices in California are $1.21 over the national average of $3.19, making California the most expensive state in America to buy gas. Comparatively, in September of 2020, the average gallon of gas was $3.24 per gallon in California, and the national average was $2.22 per gallon. The surge in California gasoline prices is partly due to a recent increase in the California gas tax. In July, California’s state gas tax increased by 0.6 cents per gallon with absolutely no objections from Gavin Newsom. This increase propelled California’s total gas tax rate to 51.1 cents per gallon. This is in addition to the 18.4 cents per gallon that Californians are forced to pay in federal gas taxes, meaning upwards of 15% of gas expenses paid in California are spent on state and federal gas excise taxes alone.
In November of 2016, California voted to maintain the death penalty by a margin of 53%-47%. Defying the will of the people, Gavin Newsom enacted his own moratorium on executions for those on death row in California via executive action in March of 2019. The moratorium is effective for as long as Newsom remains in office, meaning that removing Newsom from office could provide some much-needed respite to the families of the victims impacted by the actions of the 737 people currently on death row in California.
Lastly, for the first time in California history, California’s overall population declined in 2020. This is undoubtedly due to both the disastrous policies of Newsom, as well as the overwhelming costs associated with living in California. Removing Newsom due to him being responsible for a large number of California’s problems is step one to ultimately solving the problems.
Gavin Newsom is among the worst sitting governors in America. He has utterly failed the people of California and does not deserve to keep his position as governor. Luckily, it seems as if many Californians agree. According to an August poll of 613 likely California voters, support for Newsom’s recall is high, with 51% of respondents saying they support Newsom’s removal and 40% saying they want Newsom to remain as governor. This poll is similar to many recent polls that each show the recall election is expected to be an extremely close race.
Recalling a Democrat Governor in a heavily Democrat state will be difficult, but it is absolutely possible. If you are a California resident and have not already voted, be sure to vote “YES” on the recall of Gavin Newsom on or before September 14th!