Newsom Claims Victory: See How Marin Voted

MARIN COUNTY, CA — Gavin Newsom on Tuesday became the second governor in U.S. history to survive a recall effort. California's first-term governor scored a resounding victory Tuesday night by a nearly two-to-one margin in a race several outlets called less than an hour after polls closed.

As of Wednesday morning, "no" votes on the effort to oust Newsom were outpacing the "yes" votes 63.9 percent to 36.1 percent with 100 percent of the state's precincts reporting, according to the Secretary of State's Office. Some vote-by-mail and provisional ballots had yet to be counted.

The only other U.S. governor to push back a recall effort before Tuesday was Wisconsin’s Scott Walker. The Republican in 2012 won a special election less than two years into his first term as the Badger State’s top elected official.

In Marin, 84.3 percent of voters cast their ballots in opposition to recalling Newsom.

Statewide, total voter turnout was 9,176,526, or 41.6 percent of more than 22 million registered voters.

"Thank you for rejecting this recall," Newsom said while declaring victory at the John L. Burton California Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento just moments after the race was called by The Associated Press.

With votes still being tallied, Newsom outpaced his own record in the 2018 election, driving numbers up across several pivotal counties.

He exceeded President Joe Biden's margin of victory in California in 2020 in several counties. Some counties that have historically leaned Republican — such as Orange, Riverside and San Diego — came out against the recall Tuesday.

"'No' is not the only thing that was expressed tonight," Newsom said Tuesday night. "I want to focus on what we said 'yes' to as a state: We said yes to science. We said yes to vaccines. We said yes to ending this pandemic."

If there seemed to be an enthusiasm gap between energetic Republicans and apathetic Democrats more than a month ago — that impression was dispelled Tuesday. Some 4.9 million Democrats turned in ballots, compared to 2.5 million ballots from Republicans.

The Republican Party needed all the help it could get in a blue state like California.

Democrats make up 46.5 percent of all registered voters. Republicans account for just 24 percent. Republicans have not won the governor’s seat since 2006, when Arnold Schwarzenegger won re-election as governor following the 2003 recall of Gray Davis.

But it’s safe to say that voters won’t see the last of Newsom’s biggest GOP threat — talk show host Larry Elder — who conceded in Orange County on Tuesday night.

"Come on, let's be gracious in defeat," Elder said to a booing crowd after announcing Newsom's win. He closed that speech with: “We’ve got a state to save.”

Patch Editor Paige Austin contributed to this report.