San Jose State community members are at odds on whether California Governor Gavin Newsom should be removed and replaced by an elected candidate in the Sept. 14 recall election.
Under California law, voters can recall the governor if proponents receive a minimum of 1,495,709 valid petition signatures, according to the California Secretary of State website.
The recall efforts began as a petition that received 2.1 million signatures by the March 17 filing deadline, according to a Ballotpedia article, which was last updated on Sept. 1.
Ballotpedia is a nonprofit, digital encyclopedia of American politics and elections, according to its website.
Business senior David Canoy said California needs to go in a different direction to “see change.”
Canoy said a new governor in office could possibly change the current statewide unemployment and homeless crises.
“I’ve appreciated what Newsom has done for California, but after the [coronavirus] pandemic there are things that could’ve been handled better,” Canoy said. “A new governor in office with new ideas and a new agenda could bring a better balance to the state.”
Newsom began his term on Jan. 7, 2019.
Governors are elected by popular vote, hold office for four years and are eligible for only two terms, according to Ballotpedia.
Those who want to recall Newsom feel he didn’t handle the COVID-19 pandemic correctly, as well as the subsequent shutdowns of schools, businesses and enforcement of mask mandates, according to a Sept. 1 New York Times article.
The recall ballot will contain two questions.
The first question will ask individuals to vote “yes” or “no” regarding his recall.
The second question will ask voters, regardless of their first answer, who should take Newsom's place as California’s next governor.
If voters only answer question one, assuming they vote to recall Newsom, the candidate with the majority of the votes will be selected even if a majority of voters skipped the second question, according to the California Voter Guide.
More than 40 candidates are running against Newsom, according to an Aug. 31 CNN article.
Five republican candidates have emerged as the frontrunners including John Cox, Larry Elder, Kevin Faulconer, Caitlyn Jenner and Kevin Kiley, according to Ballotpedia.
Alumna Bianca Hernandez said recalling Newsom would be a “terrible idea” because the new governor would likely be a Republican candidate.
“[Electing a Republican governor] will negatively affect education rights, reproductive rights, increasing taxes for us lower-income people and not the wealthy, and more negative impacts to our environment,” Hernandez said.
Newsom pushed the largest economic stimulus to help Californians with housing, debt relief, education and broadband during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to CalMatters July 21 article.
CalMatters is a California-based informational site that details the process of California’s state capital, according to its website.
During his term, Newsom provided free meal assitance for K-12 students, expanded medical insurance for undocumented residents and put a ban on evictions because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the same July 21 article.
Newsom is also responsible for developing the AB1460 bill.
AB1460 requires California State University undergraduates who intend to graduate in 2024-25 to take an ethnic studies course, taking effect fall 2021, according to an Oct. 2, 2020 SJSU blog post.
Sharmin Khan, SJSU California Faculty Association (CFA) board member and AB1460 advocate, said she doesn't believe Newsom should be recalled.
The CFA is an exclusive collective bargaining representative for the 24,000 CSU faculty, according to the university’s CFA webpage.
“Yes, Newsom has done some wrong that has upset me such as the French laundry bill, but the good he’s done for the state of California shouldn’t warrant a recall,” Khan said.
Newsom attended French Laundry, a three Michelin-star restaurant in Yountville, Napa Valley, at the height of the pandemic, ignoring COVID-19 California guidelines that prohibited group gatherings, according to a Dec. 2, 2020 Newsweek article.
The restaurant is an exclusive outdoor culinary experience starting at $450 per person or a "White Truffle and Caviar dinner" for $1,200 per person among several other dining options, according to the French Laundry reservation service.
As of Sept. 1, 51% of California voters want to keep Newsom in office and 44% want him recalled, according to a FiveThirtyEight poll.
FiveThirtyEight is a news website focused on statistical analysis, according to its website.
Most recall efforts are being driven by conservative voters, according to an Aug. 30 Washington Post article.
Conservative voters make up about 33% of California voters, according to a survey by the Public Policy Institute of California.
The Public Institute of California is a nonprofit, information website for public policy, according to its website.
Mail-in ballots were delivered to eligible voters beginning Aug. 16 and in-person voting will be available leading up to Election Day.
Santa Clara County currently has 36 polling locations for in-person voting, according to its Vote in Person webpage.
After the election, the candidate with the most votes will serve the remainder of Newsom’s term, which ends Jan. 2, 2023, if the recall is successful, according to the California Secretary of State Recall Election webpage.
