
5 takeaways after Gov. Gavin Newsom prevails in California recall
CNN
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered a decisive answer to the question of whether voters would penalize those who enacted strict policies aimed at slowing the coronavirus pandemic, triumphing over an effort to recall him Tuesday.
Newsom faced the first recall election in California in 18 years. At one point, weeks before the election, he appeared to be in serious enough jeopardy that Democrats decided to dispatch President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to campaign for him.
Republicans sought a replay of 2003, when actor Arnold Schwarzenegger attracted support across ideological lines and voters decided to boot then-Gov. Gray Davis. This time, though, the party's leading candidate, talk radio host Larry Elder, stuck much closer to conservative orthodoxy -- making it difficult to attract the sort of broad bipartisan support that it takes for a GOP candidate to win in deep-blue California.