Newsom sounds like Gray Davis in fighting recall as GOP ‘power grab’

A California governor takes the stage of a Los Angeles ballroom to denounce the recall election he faces. As supporters cheer him on, he warns that the drive to remove him from office is part of a national effort by Republicans to steal elections they cannot win.

“This right-wing power grab is something we won’t get over,” he says. “It would do lasting damage to our state, our environment and the very fabric of our democracy. This is a fight worth making.”

In August 2003, two months before he became the second governor in American history to be recalled, this scene kicked off Gray Davis’ crusade to save his job. It didn’t work, but nearly two decades later, the early weeks of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s own recall defense campaign have played out like a remake.

After months of publicly ignoring the threat, the Democratic governor launched his Stop the Republican Recall committee last month with an ad that labeled it a “power grab” and linked the campaign to extremist groups that supported former President Donald Trump’s bid to overturn the results of the 2020 election. His fundraising missives consistently focus on national Republicans and Trump donors as recall instigators.

“I’m fighting for the values of this state, and there’s a lot at stake. Because in these elections, who knows what could happen?” Newsom said during a recent appearance in Alameda. “Just learn about who these folks are. It’s just anathema to who we are as Californians.”

Recall organizers characterize his strategy as condescending and dismissive of hundreds of thousands of Democratic and independent voters who they say signed their petition. But some veterans of the Davis campaign believe the message could be effective for Newsom in a state that has shifted dramatically to the left in the 18 years since the last recall election. Read more >>>