Last updated on September 2, 2021
Remember, let’s be polite; let’s be respectful, but most of all, let’s be outspoken.
On March 15th, 2021, The Outspoken Oppa conducted a 24-hour poll asking, “Should CA Governor Gavin Newsom be recalled or removed from office?” Of the 178 people that voted, 64% said yes, while 36% said no. The poll specifically targeted students that attend La Cañada schools.
After the Outspoken Oppa poll concluded, Outspoken Oppa reporters asked several local La Cañada politicians if they would like to comment on the recall effort; all have declined to comment so far.
The poll also somewhat aligns with the Public Policy Institute of California’s February poll, showing a 12% drop in the governor’s approval ratings from 64% to 52%.
Just a few days after the Outspoken Oppa poll, the Los Angles Times reported 1.2 million signatures on the recall petition were validated. The article says that the recall petition would need 300,000 more signatures, achieving an overall 1.5 million signatures, by April 29th to trigger a recall election against the California governor. Gavin Newsom has already stated that he believes there will be enough signatures. If a recall election were to take place, it could occur this year.
The recent Outspoken Oppa polling on the governor broke away from the general liberal-leaning of La Cañada Students. Past polls conducted by the Outspoken Oppa showed overwhelmingly strong support by La Cañada Students to remove Former Republican President Trump in his first and second impeachment trials. Polls also showed, during the 2020 presidential election, general support for Joe Biden on key domestic and foreign issues like abortion and US-Russia relations.
When later asked, Mason Pirkey said this recent Outspoken Oppa poll is an exception to the general political trend of LC students and said future polls will show a continuation of the previously established liberal-leaning of surveyed La Cañada students. Pirkey is the Outspoken Oppa’s head of view growth who oversaw a 2000% increase in website views in the first 2021 fiscal quarter from the first 2020 fiscal quarter.
In any case, this poll is most likely not apart of the general political leaning of LC students because the recall effort to remove the Democratic governor does not seem to be a partisan effort. A recent CNN opinion article echoed this point.
On March 18th, 2021, Lanhee J. Chen wrote a CNN opinion article detailing the recall effort against Newsom, “Voters don’t want to recall Newsom because of his stances on climate change, race relations or cultural wedge issues. Instead, much of the public disaffection is rooted in Newsom’s mismanagement and inadequate leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Furthermore, Chen disagreed with the governor titling the recall effort as a republican partisan move saying, “Newsom has branded this the “Republican recall” and tried to tie the effort to former President Donald Trump as well as to “anti-mask and anti-vax extremists.” But such branding is deeply misleading. The recall proponents claim that more than a third of the signatures gathered came from either registered Democrats or those expressing no party preference.”
The driving factor behind the recall effort is the way the California governor managed public schools during the pandemic. Some, including Chen, argue that Newsom’s policy to reopen California schools have been a balancing act between doing everything within his power to reopen schools and appeasing the California Teachers Association.
Additionally, Newsom has also been under fire for his handling of the California economy. In the initial stages of the pandemic, Newsom shut down the economy by forcing closures of major industries like restaurants and gyms, including Disneyland, which employed thousands of people. However, he decided to reopen major portions of the economy back in January, which reportedly blindsided state officials.
Newsom also received tremendous backlash when he attended a maskless dinner at the Napa Valley restaurant with lobbyists, which broke the stay-at-home order issued by him. Newsom later called the dinner “a mistake.”
If Californians were to recall the Democratic governor, then California would see a dramatic shift in politics with its first Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was governor from 2003-2011.
Remember, let’s be polite; let’s be respectful, but most of all, let’s be outspoken.
The Outspoken Oppa will continue to report on the recall effort against Governor Newsom in its Politics and News sections, assuming the recall effort materializes beyond April 29th.
[…] Majority of Surveyed La Cañada Students Support Recalling Governor Newsom […]