Labor Helps Gov. Newsom Prevail in Wasteful Recall Election

By a landslide, Californians rejected calls to roll back decades of progress on worker protections, health and safety, immigrant rights, and the struggle toward anti-racism and social justice.

Nearly 64 percent of voters chose against recalling Gov. Gavin Newsom in a special election held Tuesday, according to preliminary results. Union members – who spent countless hours volunteering over the last several months – are the heart and soul of this victory.

“Union folks often say, ‘When we fight, we win!’ Results of the recall election demonstrate the truth of that claim,” said Steven Filling, chair of CFA’s Political Action and Legislative Committee. “Our CFA activists put in a lot of hours working with our labor siblings to get out the vote, and it paid off.”

Costing a wasteful $276 million, the recall election was nothing more than an anti-union power grab, an opportunity for anti-labor donors who know they cannot win a statewide election next year to attempt to seize control over government with a minority vote. Californians emphatically said, “No thank you.”

“What started out being characterized as ‘too close to predict because Democrat voters aren’t motivated to vote’ became ‘Governor Newsom won a broad and renewed mandate from voters who soundly rejected a recall attempt,’” Filling added. “We achieved a significant victory yesterday, for our universities, for California, and for our country. Our heartfelt thanks to our members and activists who worked so hard to make very sure that ‘Governor Elder’ is not something we’ll have to suffer through.”

We look forward to working with Newsom to bring anti-racism and social justice to all Californians, protect our health and safety during COVID-19, increase higher education funding, and continue preparing CSU students to be the next generation of leaders.