I Don’t Recall: Politics in The HistoryMakers and in California

On September 14th, Californians from across the state held their breaths as votes were counted. With over 12 million votes counted, the results were clear: the next governor of California would be Governor Gavin Newsom. After months of campaigning and $276 million spent, voters and candidates came together, only to decide not to recall the governor and to proceed with California’s existing political structure.

California governor Gavin Newsom.

In order to understand why California chose to spend millions of dollars in order to confirm that its governor would be finishing his term, you have to understand California politics. As a political science major at Northwestern University who is proud to claim California as my home, I care deeply about California’s political world and want to do my best to understand it. In order to learn more about California’s political history, I researched in The HistoryMakers Digital Archive.

While seemingly unnecessary, this recall election was not unprecedented. In California’s 171 year history as a state, there have been 179 attempts to recall elected state officials; eleven of those attempts made it into the ballot, and six of them were successful. Most notably, California recalled Governor Gray Davis in 2003, replacing him with international film star Arnold Schwarzenegger. In almost every case, California recall elections take place when voters want to replace a Democratic official with a Republican candidate; this year’s recall was no different. Months into an unpredictable and unprecedented pandemic, millions of Californians, dissatisfied with Governor Newsom’s strategies for controlling COVID-19 cases, petitioned to have a motion to recall Newsom up for election.

A number of HistoryMakers spoke about their recollections of the 2003 recall election and their experiences within California politics. LawMaker and energy executive Robert Lewis Harris spoke about the conditions in California which led up to the recall of Governor Gray Davis. After decades of bad energy and environmental policy, an electricity crisis began in 2001. “And then when Gray Davis took over is when the crisis happened. And then that was the end of him. He couldn't… do anything before that because he could never make a decision. And when you have an indecisive person in a position like that and in a time of crisis, they gonna look even worse. And of course, he was recalled, as you well know. He was recalled… because first of all, the, the, the public has no faith, right, in what has happened. And they don't even understand how this even happened.” Davis’ inability to quickly and confidently rectify the mistakes made by his predecessors led to him being recalled by California voters. In that same vein, Newsom’s unpopular approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic put him at odds with voters and made the petition to recall him successful.

LawMaker Robert Lewis Harris.

Once the official push to recall Newsom began, the Democratic and Republican parties began campaigning for their respective causes. As expected, the Democratic party encouraged voters to reject the recall and keep Gavin Newsom in office. Although this would not be evident for a number of months, this encouragement was incredibly successful, as Gavin Newsom remained in office with over 62% of the vote in his favor. However, the Republican party made a very aggressive push, not only to recall Gavin Newsom, but to replace him with a new candidate: radio show host Larry Elder. Elder had been a prominent radio show host in the early 2000s and was known for his controversial stances on topics such as women in the workplace and the minimum wage. A lifelong Republican with public recognition, Elder was the perfect foil to Newsom’s suave demeanor which attempted to appease everyone. Elder also had another quality which separated him from other Republican candidates: he is Black.

Radio show host and recall election candidate Larry Elder.

In all of America’s history, only four Black people have ever served as governor of a U.S. state. All four of these men were known to hold more liberal ideologies. Because of this, Larry Elder came as quite a shock to many Black people and to many conservatives who think of all Black voters as left-leaning. However, this is often not the case. Hundreds of HistoryMakers, including Willie Leftwich, Edward Smith, and Janet Purnell identify as a Republican and believe that the Republican Party’s conservative ideologies are the best route to success in the United States for their community. CivicMaker Gloria Toote, who served as an advisor to four United States presidents, including Ronald Reagan, spoke about her political beliefs. “What is conservative, in answer to your question, will vary upon the philosophy of the group. I, I, I'm a Republican and I rather say I'm a Lincoln Republican for want of a better terminology, but fiscal conservatism I understand, and I demand… I do believe that the, that I don't want a socialistic society… you don't want to oversimplify it but certainly the, the, the welfare approach, it does not work. It didn't work. It never will work. It breathes dependence. It negates self respect. It destroys the family structure. I can go on, and on, and on… But I would like to see more blacks in the Republican Party. I would like to see more Republicans understanding of the needs and aspirations that African Americans have. And always be mindful of the obligation that this nation has to that one group of people who built the nation.” There are millions of Black people who love their community and want to see it at its best; they simply believe that conservative policies are the best route to achieving that. As Black conservatives gain more media attention in the aftermath of the Trump presidency, many believed that Larry Elder would have an advantage over Gavin Newsom.

The gift of hindsight enables us to see that Elder did not have an edge over Gavin Newsom. Despite advocating for an election which cost taxpayers over $200 million, Republican voters did not have what they needed to recall Gavin Newsom. Since his victory, Newsom has gotten back to enacting progressive policies, including making mail-in ballots available for every Californian in every election from this point forward in honor of National Voter Registration Day. As California moves past this election, I hope that Newsom learns from the past. Just because Newsom was not recalled this year does not mean a recall election will never happen again.