As the recall effort against California Governor Gavin Newsom heats up, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer hopes to accomplish what no Republican has achieved since 2003: becoming governor of one of the nation’s bluest states.
“I believe that Californians want a change,” said Faulconer. “When we look at reality, we all love our state, but what we see is that jobs are running away. Our state cannot do the basics. “
Faulconer, who served as mayor from 2014 to 2020, announced his candidacy this week after months of attacks against Newsom on how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. In an online video released on Monday, the 54-year-old moderate described California as a failed state, fraught with scandals and a worsening quality of life. He said he was running “to make a difference, not to make promises”.
“He failed us,” said Faulconer of Newsom in the video. “I know we can clean up California.”
As of this week, volunteers have collected more than 1.4 million signatures across the state in support of Newsom’s recall. The campaign is expected to gather 1.5 million signatures by mid-March to force an election and will need a surplus of signatures because some will likely be disqualified during the certification process. State officials had checked 410,000 in early January.
Fueled by an economic slowdown during the coronavirus pandemic, Newsom’s critics say the governor has kept public schools closed for a long time and failed to fix the state’s unemployment insurance system, his homeless record and homelessness accessible.
According to a poll released on Tuesday by the non-partisan California Public Policy Institute, 54 percent of Californians approve of Newsom’s job performance, up from 65 percent in May.
What started as a conservative-led recall effort has gained bipartisan support in recent months, with Democrats also criticizing Newsom for its change in Covid-19 vaccine strategy and for allowing schools to remain closed. Now, Faulconer is promising a “return to California” if voters choose him over Newsom.
“The recall is going to happen,” said Thad Kousser, professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego. “Clearly, Republicans can smell blood, and this is the best chance of becoming a blue state.”
Still, Kousser described Faulconer’s chances of defeating Newsom as a “remote chance”.
“The Republican Party [in California] has been steadily decreasing and has really become politically irrelevant, ”he said. “You had a Republican party that was clearly at odds with California’s diverse constituency.”
Faulconer considers himself a different type of conservative. Raised in Oxnard, a coastal city northwest of Los Angeles, Faulconer learned Spanish at an early age and stayed away from the anti-immigrant rhetoric that ended up condemning another Republican, former Governor Pete Wilson.
Faulconer won two terms in a Democratic-majority city with a Democratic-majority council. As mayor of the second largest city in California, with a population of 1.4 million, he helped reduce homelessness in San Diego by relocating people who lived on the streets to the city’s convention center after an outbreak of hepatitis A reached the population. Subsequently, his office’s efforts helped hundreds of homeless people to find housing solutions, NBC San Diego reported.
“We have to say that it is unacceptable to allow people to live and die on our sidewalks,” said Faulconer. “I believe that individuals are entitled to shelter.”
Despite some achievements to alleviate the problem of homelessness in the city, Faulconer was criticized for being too dependent on the police to sweep people off the streets. Police teams cleaned sidewalks and camps, and a new law has banned sleeping in cars. Homeless people have been taken to temporary shelters, but housing costs remain high across the city.
Under his supervision, the Chargers football team moved to Los Angeles after 55 years. Faulconer said the decision was made by the team: “It was a closed deal.”
Another likely challenge for Faulconer is his support for former President Donald Trump. He voted for Trump in 2020 after saying four years before “his divisive rhetoric is unacceptable,” reported the Los Angeles Times.
Since November, Faulconer has ruled out any potential disadvantages that his voting record could represent in a state that voted overwhelmingly for President Joe Biden.
“We have our own unique brand,” he said of conservatives in California. “I consider myself a California Republican who is fiscally sound, cares about the environment, builds bridges and gets results.”
Faulconer is one of several Republicans who have shown an interest in taking down Newsom. Businessman John Cox is considering a run against the governor if the recall effort is successful. It would be the second time Cox faces Newsom – he lost to the current governor in 2018.
Faulconer said that even if he fails to defeat Newsom during a special election, he will run for governor again in 2022.