California's Recall Nightmare
What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Slate Podcasts
4.3 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 23 August 2021
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
With just a month left, the California recall election is looking a little too close for comfort for Democrats. Governor Gavin Newsom’s approval rating is doing alright at the moment, but because of the way California conducts its recalls, if more than 50% of voters vote to oust Newsom, he loses his office, and whichever candidate garners even a small plurality of votes becomes his replacement.
How likely is it that California swears in a new executive next month? And how would the state fare under potential new leadership?
Guest: Guy Marzorati, politics and government reporter for KQED.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So, Guy, one month from now, what are the odds you think that you're going to have a new governor in California? |
| 0:11.9 | I think the odds are still in our current governor's favor to keep his job. |
| 0:27.0 | But at this point, the recall race is a whole lot closer than I think we ever thought it would be. |
| 0:31.5 | Guy Marzorati covers politics for public radio station KQED. |
| 0:35.3 | Closer than Gavin Newsom would like? |
| 0:37.9 | Certainly closer than Gavin Newsom would like. As closer than Gavin Newsom would like. |
| 0:42.6 | As some of his supporters put it like too close, it's gotten too close for comfort. |
| 0:53.9 | If you were a nerdy internet type, you might say Governor Gavin Newsom has become the physical embodiment of that how it started, how it's going meme. That's because a little over a year ago, |
| 0:56.6 | the headlines about the governor were glowing. The LA Times editorial board declared Newsom the |
| 1:01.9 | leader California needs. The Guardian marveled at how the coronavirus crisis gave Gavin Newsom his |
| 1:08.5 | leadership moment. But life comes at you fast. And now after more than a million |
| 1:13.3 | Californians signed a recall petition against him, he's fighting for his political life. |
| 1:19.2 | How many people is Gavin Newsom running against? The whole list is 46 candidates on the replacement ballot. |
| 1:27.1 | 46? 46. |
| 1:28.1 | 46. |
| 1:29.0 | But really, he's running kind of against himself. |
| 1:32.8 | The first question on the recall ballot is a simple yes or no, should he be removed from office. |
| 1:39.1 | Then there's the second question where you get to the dozens and dozens of candidates who are hoping to |
| 1:44.7 | potentially replace Newsom should voters remove them. |
| 1:47.9 | Here are a few of the candidates Californians will be able to choose from when they open up |
| 1:51.8 | their ballots. There's Dan Kapplevitz who says he represents the Green Party and describes |
| 1:57.2 | his platform as, Can You Dig It? John Drake, a recent community college graduate, who's simply running as a Democrat, |
... |
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