Recall Election: Gov. Newsom makes campaign stop in Los Angeles

Governor Gavin Newsom was in Los Angeles Saturday to campaign against the recall. This is his first official anti-recall campaign event in Southern California.

The recall election is set for Sept. 14 and ballots are starting to arrive at the homes of every registered voter in the state.

The recall ballot features two questions. 1) Should the governor be recalled? 2) If he’s recalled who should replace him?

There are twice as many registered democrats than republicans in California but recent polls show Republicans are more enthused about the recall.

And talk show host Larry Elder is the leader among the republican party.

"I respect everybody who puts themselves out in the political arena, but respectfully, there’s one candidate on the other side. His name is Larry Elder. He’s running away with this," Newsom stated.  

RELATED: California Gov. Newsom holding 4-day 'Vote No' rally to fight the recall

The Newsom team highlighted Elder’s past support for President Trump.

"Consider who will be there at the swearing in of Larry Elder… Kevin McCarthy, maybe Trump himself. What kind of judges would Larry Elder appoint?"

Meanwhile, the labor union SEIU has already donated $5 million to urge people to vote no on the recall and they’ll be heavily involved in the organization to get out the vote.

Victoria Mackey is an SEIU member and home healthcare worker; she says COVID is her top issue.

"Larry Elder the first thing he said the first thing he’s going to do is dismiss the masks and mandatory vaccines and then he’s going to go have lunch. I don’t even want to talk about Caitlyn Jenner, that’s a straight joke," Mackey said.

During Newsom’s stop in LA he visited a Mexican restaurant in El Sereno where Latino leaders showed their support.

He met with Margarita Amadora, a COVID long hauler who spent three weeks in the ICU.  She’s concerned about republican plans to roll back COVID restrictions.

"I’m here to support the governor because he has to make those tough decisions to protect us," she stated.

An LA Times editorial said it would be a disaster to recall Newsom. But they urge voters to back former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer on question two just in case… saying he’s more moderate and experienced than Larry Elder.

"You have to ask them. They seem to align on the masking, they seem to align on the vaccine verification. They seem to align on their support of Donald Trump," Newsom stated.

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The governor says he’ll have to balance campaigning with his regular day job over the next four weeks.

His main message to democrats? Don’t be complacent. "I love this state, I love our values and I’m going to fight like hell to protect them and that’s why I want people to vote no on this recall."

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