The Sept. 14 California gubernatorial recall election was the farthest reaching and most successful of the Republican Party’s attempts to remove Gov. Gavin Newsom from office — and yet, they still didn’t even come close. 

Though the votes continue to be counted and await certification, Newsom’s victory has been widely regarded as definitive. After polls closed on the night of the election, Newsom made a victory speech in Sacramento reflecting on the outcome of the election.

“‘No’ is not the only thing that was expressed tonight,” Newsom told reporters. “We said ‘yes’ to science. We said ‘yes’ to vaccines. We said ‘yes’ to ending this pandemic. We said ‘yes’ to all those things that we hold dear as Californians — and I would argue as Americans. Economic justice, social justice, racial justice and environmental justice are the values where California has made so much progress; all of those things were on the ballot this evening.”

Newsom’s victory means that he will serve out the remainder of his term until 2023, as he would have had there been no recall attempt. The combined cost of the election and campaigns for taxpayers is estimated to be as much as $450 million, which Marc Berman, chairman of the Assembly Elections Committee, believes could have been better spent elsewhere.

“That money could be spent on housing, homelessness, combating climate change, forest fires, early childhood education, you name it,” Berman told the Los Angeles Times. “There’s a lot of desire, and need, for reforming the recall process.” 

Rachel Potucek, the communications director for the Democratic Party of Orange County, believes that the recall election was a complete waste of money, especially coming so close to the 2022 midterm elections where Newsom is up for re-election. 

“This recall was a boondoggle,” Potucek told The Panther. “It was a tremendous cost to taxpayers. There’s a lot of frustration among taxpayers on the left and the right about having a special election just a year before the same person is up for election again.” 

The leading Republican candidate, Larry Elder, made allegations of voter fraud ahead of the election despite a lack of evidence to indicate the claim. The tactic bears an eerie semblance to the 2020 presidential election, when former President Donald Trump leveled similar, baseless allegations against President Joe Biden’s victory.

Election officials such as Neal Kelly, Orange County’s registrar of voters, and Natlie Adona, Nevada County’s registrar of voters, fear that such allegations will drive a normalization of disinformation and declining trust in the election process.

“These allegations of voter fraud are false, baseless and need to be held to account,” Potucek said. “We must be uplifting the truth about voter security, and we must be building trust and confidence in our voting processes. It’s unfortunate and disappointing to see folks attacking fair, ethical voting practices, just because they didn’t like the results.”

Potucek cites Kelly’s expertise in implementing election reforms as a reason why Orange County voters should feel especially secure about the legitimacy of the election results. Kelly, who is considered one of the senior election officials in California, is the longest serving registrar in Orange County’s history and is a member of the United States Election Assistance Commission (EAC).

In Orange County, which has historically favored Republican candidates, 52.59% of voters in the recall election voted against removing Newsom from office. Newsom’s recall victory, along with other Democratic victories in recent years challenge the county’s former status as a Republican stronghold. For example, Rep. Katie Porter’s re-election for California’s 45th congressional district in 2020 and Dave Min’s victory in Orange County’s 37th senate district over Republican incumbent John Moorlach in the same election. 

Potucek is excited about what the Orange County results indicate for the local Democratic Party. 

“This is a continuation of a lot of growth on the Democratic side; it shows that our momentum is on our side, and we’re going to continue to see growth in the next several years,” Potucek said. “We’re excited and fired up for the 2022 midterms, which are right around the corner for us. So, Orange County Democrats are taking this energy and translating it immediately into more work that we’re going to continue to do.”