LOS ANGELES – With an increasingly likely recall effort, California Governor Gavin Newsom promises that the state will “roar back” after suffering devastating setbacks during the coronavirus pandemic.
“California is not going to crawl back. We are going to roar back,” Newsom said in his annual State of the State address Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
On Wednesday, Newsom said in an interview that he is focusing on being governor of the country’s most populous state and rejected any suggestion that the recall campaign is linked to his job performance during the pandemic, which infected more than 3, 6 million residents and killed almost 55,000 people, the highest death toll in any state, according to the NBC News count.
“The reality is that the [recall] process started well before this pandemic, “said Newsom.” That is part of being a governor in California. “
Since 1913, there have been 179 recall attempts in California. Fifty-five shot the governor, and only one was successful. Governor Gray Davis, a Democrat, was recalled in 2003 and succeeded by Hollywood icon Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican. This was also the last time that California had a Republican governor.
Newsom’s opponents are expected to send at least 1.5 million signatures by next Wednesday to force an election this year. Randy Economy, a member of the Recall Gavin 2020 campaign, said the effort had already collected nearly 2 million signatures.
The secretary of state’s office will verify the signatures and may release the final count as early as next week.
Economy said Newsom’s speech was “ridiculous” and “a waste of taxpayer money”.
“It was a scam,” said Economy. “He tried to be a motivator and agitator in Hollywood with his dramas, and he was a total failure.”
Unlike his previous State of the State speeches, Newsom this week focused on his achievements last year and tried to paint an optimistic picture of California’s resurgence. He avoided technocratic jargon and instead recited a list of the state’s achievements.
He defended California’s response to the pandemic, pointing out that it was the first state to close when the coronavirus began to spread. Newsom said his office was “agonizing” about having to make difficult decisions, such as closing schools and certain types of businesses. Strict rules that limit which companies can open led to the loss of 1.6 million jobs in the state last year, the Associated Press reported.
On Tuesday, Newsom also highlighted the state’s commitment to equitable vaccine distribution, including reserving 40 percent of doses to underserved communities.
But, he told NBC News, more needs to be done to ensure that the people hardest hit by Covid-19 have access to vaccines.
“At the end of the day, this country is failing in terms of equity metrics,” he said. “We are failing.”
Newsom, who said he was especially focused on boosting the economy, signed a measure that included a $ 7.6 billion coronavirus relief package to send $ 600 in direct payments to low-income residents. The plan also includes immediate relief for small businesses.
Small business owners are among the people who have spoken out most against Newsom in the recall effort. He is accused of forcing the permanent closure of companies by not reopening some segments of the economy, such as restaurants, more quickly.
“We all had to face that moment and there were sacrifices,” he said. “That is why we are providing direct assistance to families affected by this pandemic.”
He said states that reopened earlier, such as Texas and Florida, were “reckless”, and he doubled his commitment to gradually raise health guidelines to standards set by public health officials.
CORRECTION (March 10, 2021, 9:45 pm Eastern time): An earlier version of this article erroneously set the deadline for sending signatures in support of the effort to oust Governor Gavin Newsom. The deadline is March 17, not March 16.
