CA Recall: Newsom Lambasts Elder On Campaign Trail

CALIFORNIA — Gov. Gavin Newsom has made appearances all over the Golden State in recent days, pleading with residents to "vote no" in next month's recall election. He has also turned the spotlight on his most formidable Republican opponent: Larry Elder.

The conservative talk show host may have entered the recall effort a little later than others, but he quickly rearranged the order of Republican hopefuls vying for California's top post next month.

Recent polls showed that Elder, 69, has ascended to the top of the short list of prominent GOP candidates, and Newsom has singled him out as the most extreme choice for governor.

"He is to the right of Donald Trump," Newsom said at an event in San Francisco Friday.

Newsom spent the weekend campaigning through the Southland and lambasting Elder at length. On Monday, he reiterated a long list of grievances against his opponent in San Jose.

"He doesn't believe climate change is real, calls it a myth, a crock," Newsom said, adding that Elder "wants to double down on offshore oil drilling, ... doesn't believe in minimum wage, ... doesn't believe in a woman's right to choose, doesn't believe in an assault weapons ban."

He added: "And, Mr. Mayor, how offensive is that? Here, in Santa Clara County, ravaged by weapons of war and devastation," a reference to a mass shooting that killed nine people at a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light-rail yard on May 26.

The governor also highlighted an article Elder wrote in 2000 in Capitalism Magazine, in which he said "women know less than men about political issues, economics, and current events."

"This offends me," Newsom said. "I've got two daughters."

Elder has also said that he opposes Roe v. Wade and maternity leave.

"I'm opposed to Roe v. Wade. I think it was one of the worst decisions that the [U.S.] Supreme Court ever handed down, except maybe since Dred Scott, and nullified anti-abortion laws in all 50 states. This should be an issue that should be done on a state-by-state basis. And I'm a realist enough to know that California is a pro-choice state. No matter how I feel, that's not going to change," Elder told KQED in July.

Last week, the governor issued a mandate that all teachers and education staff show proof of vaccination or submit to weekly testing, a policy that came on the heels of a mask mandate for schools and a vaccine or testing policy for health care workers and those visiting hospitals.

Elder has said he would halt all such mandates if elected.

"When I become governor, assuming there are mandates for masks and statewide mandates for vaccines, they will be suspended right away," Elder said in a Zoom news conference, the San Francsico Chronicle reported. "This is America. We have freedom in America."

The GOP front-runner's statement came just one day after Newsom's vaccination mandate for schools.

"How is it that we get our kids safely back into school for in-person instruction and get this economy moving again unless we use some common sense, a little bit of scientific know-how and wear face coverings, face masks?" Newsom said in San Jose.

The governor has painted the recall effort as one backed not only by Republicans, but also by extremists and supporters of former President Trump, a claim that has been criticized by recall proponents.

"We defeated Trump, we did not defeat Trumpism," Newsom said Monday, adding, "Don't think for a second ... that this isn't also about 2022 and being able to hold the House. The consequences are profound."

His own campaign has carried the title, "Stop the Republican Recall," one that top recall supporters challenged in court earlier this month, arguing that Newsom cannot call the election a "Republican recall" in official voter guides.

Among the 46 recall election candidates certified by the secretary of state's office, 24 are Republican.

A tentative ruling from Sacramento Superior Court Judge Laurie M. Earl suggested that she is likely to allow Newsom to refer to the recall against him as a Republican effort in the official voter guide.

Recall supporters have argued that Newsom's response to the pandemic was disastrous for businesses and that his leadership revealed serious fissures within the state's crime rates, homelessness and unemployment agency after an audit found widespread fraud.

"This is — and forgive me — a Republican-backed recall," Newsom has said, adding: "These folks don't believe in science, let alone climate science, and they don't believe in the science behind this pandemic. There's a lot at stake for Californians in this race."

Ballots for the Sept. 14 election will start arriving in mailboxes around the Golden State this month. Voters will be asked whether Newsom should be recalled and who should replace him. If more than 50 percent of voters cast a ballot to recall Newsom, the replacement candidate with the largest share of votes will win the governor's seat.

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