California recall election: Newsom continues 'Vote No' campaign with weekend tour across SoCal
With just nine days before California's recall election, Gov. Gavin Newsom made the rounds across Southern California this weekend as he fights against possible removal from office.
Newsom continued to bring in several heavy-hitters of the Democratic Party, including Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar in Santa Ana on Sunday as he warned that the race will come down to voter turnout.
Klobuchar told the crowd the political move is all about taking away rights.
"Suppressing the vote, going into the Capitol, stopping our democracy. This is the day where the citizens of California can stand up and say no, we own this democracy," she said.
The governor went after leading Republican candidate Larry Elder and his support for Trump. Elder had no local campaign events Sunday, but has rallies scheduled for Monday in Castaic and Thousand Oaks.
Newsom added that Elder goes against everything California stands for.
"The stakes couldn't be higher. Trump was defeated in 2020, but Trumpism has not been defeated in this country. We have a chance to defeat Trumpism on September 14th."
Earlier in the day, Newsom appeared at one of his other campaign stops in MacArthur Park with the L.A. County Federation of Labor, drawing a large crowd of union members and volunteers. Congresswoman Maxine Waters joined the governor and rallied the crowd.
Newsom says California's future is at stake with the recall election.
"One hundred and fourteen thousand jobs created just last month. That's California, and that happened, not despite our values. That happened because of our values," he said in front of the crowd. "We embrace unions, we embrace social justice, racial justice, economic justice, environmental justice -- all of those things are at risk if we don't turnout the vote."
California recall election poll shows strong support to keep Newsom in office
He continued his "Vote No" get out the vote tour with Asian and Pacific Islander leaders in Chinatown.
On Saturday, Newsom enlisted progressive star Elizabeth Warren to help him overcome the recall election, warning that his ouster carries possible consequences for the national Democratic agenda on climate change, immigration and reproductive rights.
The Massachusetts senator and former presidential candidate joined the embattled governor for an outdoor rally at a Culver City high school in the state's populous Democratic heartland, where polls show left-leaning Latino and younger voters have been slow to turn in their mail ballots for the contest that culminates Sept. 14.
Both Warren and Newsom evoked former President Donald Trump's tumultuous administration, depicting Elder as an acolyte of the billionaire businessman who would undermine the minimum wage, chisel into environmental protections and threaten abortion rights.
At a time when Washington is often gridlocked, Warren argued that states have become the engines of government policy-making, and voters need to recognize how much is at risk in the recall and how broadly the results will be felt.
She said Elder, a conservative talk radio host, "dreams of being California's own Donald Trump."
Battles over women's rights, the coronavirus and a warming climate are "not just in Texas, Florida, South Dakota," she said, referring to states with conservative governors. "These fights have come to California."
California recall election: 108 polling places open in LA County for early in-person voting
Later this week, Newsom is expected to get even more support from the White House. Vice President Kamala Harris is set to join him from an event in Northern California on Wednesday.
President Joe Biden supports Newsom, a fellow Democrat and first-term governor, and the White House said late last month that Biden would travel to California on Newsom's behalf.
"Well, I would say, first, I can confirm the president does still plan to go and campaign for Gov. Newsom in California," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her Aug. 25 briefing. "I don't have a date for you at this point in time, but that is still, certainly, his plan."
A Biden trip to California has not been announced.
In recent months, Newsom appeared imperiled from widespread public frustration over his pandemic restrictions that shuttered schools and businesses. But he is hoping to bounce back with a decisive victory that could provide a springboard for 2022, when he will face reelection, and return his name to discussions about future White House contenders.
Recent polling has suggested he has established a lead, but Newsom has been warning the race could be close. Mail-in ballots went to all 22 million registered voters in mid-August for the unusual, late-summer election. In the recall, voters are asked two questions: Should Newsom be removed? And, if so, who should replace him?
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
