Washington, DC — Today, California voters rejected a right-wing attempt to recall Governor Newsom and throw the entire state into chaos. Exit polls confirm that a top concern for voters was the coronavirus pandemic. The vote reflects strong support of Democrats’ efforts to put the health and safety of Californians first, and it is a complete rejection of Republicans who are fueling vaccine hesitancy, opposing masking, and promoting junk science. In response, Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse issued the following statement:
“This election wasn’t just a referendum on Governor Newsom–this was a referendum on the two parties’ approaches to addressing the coronavirus. Voters named the pandemic as the biggest issue facing the state, and they resoundingly stood with the leadership of Governor Newsom and President Biden over the anti-vaccine, anti-mask, and anti-science party of Larry Elder and Donald Trump. Newsom’s aggressive steps to protect people from COVID-19 is what led Republicans to launch this ridiculous initiative to begin with, but now their effort has totally backfired.
“The failure of this recall shows that the Republican midterm strategy of rejecting measures to slow the spread of the virus will continue to cost them elections, just like it did in 2020. This defeat of Republicans in Kevin McCarthy’s own backyard shows voters continue to trust science and demand bold action to combat the ongoing pandemic. The only question remaining is how many times are Republicans going to run and lose on prolonging this pandemic?”