Article By: Giovi Andreassi

California Governor Gavin Newsom has held his current office for two years, but there have already been many calls for a statewide recall election — an election where voters can vote to remove an elected official from office before his or her term has ended. But why do Californians want Newsom out?

Earlier in the pandemic, Newsom had been widely praised for his handling of COVID-19, where he acted swiftly and effectively. But now he has come under fire by allies and adversaries alike. Many of those advocating for Newsom’s recall say that he has inflicted lots of damage by restricting small businesses, changing the vaccine distribution plan several times, and even violating his own restrictions by attending a dinner party and not wearing a mask. 

Supporters of a Newsom recall have until March 17 to collect the 1,495,709 votes needed to trigger an election. They would then vote for a new governor for the state of California.

Personally, I have mixed feelings on the matter. No matter what action Newsom takes, he will receive criticism. However, I do appreciate how quickly he jumped on the issues of COVID-19 in the early stages of the pandemic. Although, as someone who works in a restaurant, I saw firsthand the challenges that employees faced with the constant shutdown orders. And while I agree that this helped to lower cases and save more lives, I think more could have been done to help the most vulnerable workers during these difficult times. 

While ambivalent in my stance, I turned to politically active senior Aidan Ramsay to hear his thoughts on the matter. Ramsay said, “I don’t particularly like Gavin Newsom because I think he represents most of the problems I associate with most of the democratic political establishment in the ways he lets corporate lobbying chip away at his progressive facade, along with a decidedly poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Ramsay went on to say that, although Newsom is not ideal, he would not prefer a republican candidate by “any stretch of the imagination,” and in a perfect world “a leftist candidate would rise above and dethrone Newsom.”

While Ramsay and I had hoped for better leadership during these times, we can only hope that the future will hold more responsible, representative, and productive political figures for not just the state of California, but across the board as well.