San Francisco – Difficult to say when exactly California politics turned into a circus. Was it in April when Caitlyn Jenner, stepmother of the Kardashian clan and reality TV star, announced her candidacy for governor? Or the moment when Kevin Paffrath, a 29-year-old real estate agent, millionaire and YouTuber, suggested in a televised debate that a pipeline should be laid from the Mississippi to California to end the drought in the country? Or when Republican John Cox stepped in front of the cameras with a brown bear – which made sure that no one cared about what Cox had to say because this bear was sitting behind him eating oreo cookies?
People, animals, sensations. Even for a country where the boundaries between politics and show are fluid – and not just since Donald Trump – the election campaign that is currently taking place in California has reached a new level. Circus level.
The current incumbent is threatened with being voted out by referendum
The Californians have until September 14th to vote on whether or not Governor Gavin Newsom should remain in office. “Recall” is the name of this type of election, which takes place all over the world, including in Germany, where in many federal states mayors can be voted out with such a referendum. Most of the time, the hurdles are high and recalls are therefore rare. In California, however, 1.4 million signatures were sufficient, that is twelve percent of the electorate.
Initially, it was a small group of Trump fans who campaigned for the recall, supported by Corona deniers, QAnon and sympathizers of the right-wing extremist Proud Boys. When dissatisfaction with corona measures grew during the pandemic, Republicans joined in too.
AP/Rich Pedroncelli
California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom: One unnecessary mistake could cost him the office.
Gavin Newsom, 53, is the perfect enemy: a handsome wine merchant – nicknamed Mayor McHottie when he was mayor of San Francisco – whose aunt is married to Nancy Pelosi’s brother-in-law and whose sponsors are the Getty family . Newsom imposed a moratorium on executions, campaigned early on for gay marriage and the legalization of cannabis. A progressive democrat with good connections to the political and social elite, who was then also photographed sitting with lobbyists without a mask in the posh restaurant “The French Laundry” while eating, in the middle of the second wave of the pandemic.
The vote is now not only on the question of whether Newsom has to go, but also on who should replace him. So far there has been only one successful recall in California, in 2003. The then governor was named Gray Davis, the candidate who replaced him: Arnold Schwarzenegger, previously known as Mr. Universe, since then known as the “Governator”.
46 candidates are on the ballot paper, which is also due to the fact that anyone who could present 7,000 signatures or pay a fee of $ 4,000 was allowed to run. Should a majority vote against Newsom, the opposing candidate with the most votes wins.
Multimillionaires, truck drivers and women with no last name
In mid-August, voters found a booklet made of recycled paper in their mailbox in which all the candidates introduced themselves: a homicide investigator, several multimillionaires, a film producer, a yoga teacher, an evangelical cannabis advocate, Angelyne, a woman with no surname who lived in the 1980s. Years as an underwear model graced the billboards in LA, a city guide who introduced himself in just two words (“Love U”) and an equally taciturn truck driver (“Search YouTube”).
A man named Denver Stoner said he was running because he thought it would be funny if a “Stoner” became governor – Stoners are the people in the US who like to use drugs.
And the same John Cox, the Republican with the bear, who suffered a historic defeat at Newsom just two years ago. Now he’s changed his Twitter name to @beastjohncox and put $ 5 million into a commercial challenging him, the beast, Newsom, the Beautiful. Cox then first fought against animal rights activists who accused him of cruelty to animals because of the appearance with the bear.
It is not that there are no serious candidates running. The Republicans are also sending seasoned politicians into the race, such as Kevin Faulconer, Mayor of San Diego. Because the Democrats, in protest against the recall, advised against their members to run for office, only seven almost unknown Democrats are on the list.
The best known among them is real estate YouTuber Kevin Paffrath. Before he suggested rerouting the Mississippi to California, he already brought down the cell phone network of the mobile operator Verizon.
He had called on his 1.7 million followers to send campaign ads for him, the “JFK-Style Democrat”, via SMS. There are service providers who provide telephone numbers and software for this – but you have to send the SMS manually and individually. So Paffrath was looking for helpers for this. Thousands logged on to the system at the same time, sent millions of SMS within a few hours and thus burst Verizon’s cell phone network. At the beginning of August, Paffrath briefly led the polls.
Larry Elder: Kind of a black Trump in California
He is now only in second place. He was overtaken by Larry Elder, 69, a talk show host, anti-abortion and climate denier. Elder’s candidacy almost failed because he refused to disclose his tax records. At the last minute, a court approved him, and Elder was allowed to stand anyway. As a first official act, he promised to lift the mask and vaccination requirements that currently apply to California officials.
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The moderator Larry Elder is currently leading the polls, he could become governor if Gavin Newsom is voted out.
Larry Elder could become some kind of black Trump in California. He grew up in the South Central LA ghetto, a self-made man whose television career has crowned a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. He would be the first black governor in the history of California – with the punch line that he considers police violence against blacks to be an invention and railed against Black Lives Matter. He would also like to compensate the descendants of slave owners who have lost their “property” with the end of slavery, he said in a recent interview.
And then an ex-girlfriend went public. She had met Elder 20 years ago at a party at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion, worked as a producer on his show, and became his fiancée in 2013. Until Elder, a gun enthusiast and advocate of legal cannabis, is said to have threatened her with a gun one evening while she was stoned. Elder denies the allegation, as do two other sexual harassment charges against him. He said of one of the two women that she was far too ugly for him. Which brings us back to Trump.
Two weeks ago it looked close for Gavin Newsom, only 0.2 percentage points separated him from being voted out of office and California from a racist and sexist anti-vaccine as governor. Newsom has now expanded its lead again. And it looks as if those who consider this election to be nothing more than a circus, but above all a waste of time and money, were right: Newsom’s term of office ends next year anyway – the cost of the recall is $ 276 million .
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