California has long been regarded as a bellwether state, a window into the social, economic, and political trends that are about to extend across the land. In 2018, Golden State voters elected Gavin Newsom as governor with 62 percent of the vote. What, then, does the ongoing recall effort of Newsom suggest about what lies ahead?
For more than a year, efforts to recall Newsom felt futile. The Democratic governor had weathered the French Laundry scandal, in which he attended a birthday party held at a swanky Napa Valley restaurant while wearing no mask and mingling closely with a group of other maskless guests—thereby contravening masking orders that he set down for others. Even when the recall push gathered enough signatures to force an election months ago, removing him from office seemed a longshot. After all, party registrations in California favor Democrats over Republicans 46 percent to 24 percent. Recall supporters would be no match for the Democrats’ sheer numbers.
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