Judge rules that California Gov. Newsom can’t be listed as Democrat on recall ballot

California Governor Gavin Newsom will not be able to put his Democratic Party affiliation on the ballot in the state’s recall race set for September 14, when voters will decide if they want to remove and replace him.

Newsom missed a deadline to submit his party affiliation and sued California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who he appointed to the position, last month in an effort to add it to the ballot. 

On Monday, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge James Arguelles ruled that Newsom would not be permitted to add his party affiliation because the deadline requirement was part of legislation that Newsom actually approved in 2019 during his tenure as governor. 

Last month, Newsom filed a 25-page lawsuit to challenge that requirement, claiming that it is unnecessary to bar him from putting his party affiliation on the ballot. 

‘As long as the fundamental purposes underlying the applicable constitutional or statutory requirements have been fulfilled, there is compliance with the applicable statute,’ the lawsuit reads.  

Newsom’s elections attorney, Thomas Willis, and an attorney for Weber argued during an hour-long hearing on Friday that Newsom made a harmless mistake and it is in voter’s best interest to know his party affiliation. 

They added that election officials still have enough time to add Newsom’s party to the ballot considering eligible candidates have until July 16 to enter the race. ‘The court has sufficient time to act before the recall ballot is finalized,’ the lawsuit reads. 

Republicans slammed Newsom as trying to avert the rules everybody else has to follow. 

‘At base this comes down to whether the governor of California has to follow the unambiguous law — and it just so happens, a law that he signed,’ said attorney Eric Early, who represents key leaders of the recall, such as Orrin Heatlie, Mike Netter and the California Patriot Coalition. 

While not garnering much serious support in her bid to replace Newsom, reality TV personality and Olympian Caitlyn Jenner held the first news conference of her campaign to announce that she was joining a lawsuit against Newsom and called it her first step toward chipping away at the bureaucracy plaguing California politics.  

Judge James Arguelles said Monday that there were no reasons to look beyond the law Newsom approved that required him to submit his party affiliation by a specified date. 

He added that the law ‘unambiguously precludes party information from appearing on a recall ballot where the elected officer fails timely to make the designation.’

After the judge’s decision was confirmed, Jenner tweeted ‘I am thrilled that the rule of law prevailed. Joining this lawsuit was the first step of finally breaking down politics-as-usual in Sacramento where special interests and political cronies are placed above the good of the people. The end is near for Gavin Newsom!’

Early hailed Arguelles’ ruling and said, ‘He followed the law, and that’s all we can ask for. No one is above the law, and this ruling makes clear that includes Gavin Newsom.’

Newsom campaign spokesman Nathan Click did not respond directly to the ruling, but said that Newsom would defeat the recall that he called a ‘Republican power grab.’

Previous recall targets weren’t allowed to list their political party, but Democrats who control the state Legislature changed that in 2019 after a state senator from their party was recalled. They argued it gives voters important information.

Last month, Newsom signed a law that changed the recall rules again to speed up the election.  

Many voters already know Newsom from his 10-year career in California office, first as lieutenant governor and as governor in 2018 when he won against Cox. He served as San Francisco’s mayor for the prior six years.

Democrats have said that Newsom is in a better position to defeat the recall now that the state’s economy is open again and its coronavirus case numbers are low. 

The recall gained momentum in the beginning of the pandemic when many disapproved of the governor’s lockdown orders. Newsom drew even more ire from his opponents when he was seen at a party with lobbyist friends at a fancy restaurant despite the state being in lockdown. 

The governor’s standing also suffered from a multibillion-dollar fraud scandal at the state unemployment agency.  

Bids for recall elections are not rare in California, though they don’t often make it to the ballot. Only one governor was ousted in a recall, when Democrat Gray Davis was replaced by Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003. 

There are dozens of candidates expected and it´s possible that a candidate could win with only 20 to 30percent of the vote. 

The most recent candidate to join the race is conservative radio talk show host Larry Edler. He announced Monday that he would be joining the slate of candidates that also includes Caitlyn Jenner, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, businessman John Cox, former Republican Doug Ose, billboard model Angelyne, Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Hewitt, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley and Ric Grenell, who served as former President Trump’s acting director of national intelligence.  

Elder, 69, told the Associated Press that he initially was reluctant to become a candidate in a state where Democrats hold a lopsided grip on power in Sacramento. But a number of his Republicans peers, including fellow conservative radio host Dennis Prager, encouraged him to run. 

The talk show host added that he is passionate about California issues like its out-of-control homeless crisis, spiking crime rates, water shortages and power outages – in addition to the hit the economy took after Newsom’s coronavirus lockdowns.

‘I have common sense. I have good judgment. I´m born and raised here. I think I understand the state,’ he said.

Elder runs a nationally-syndicated talk show and is a regular guest on Fox News. His website dubs him as the ‘sage from South Central,’ referencing the area of Los Angeles where he grew up.     

Elder, who is black, writes on his website that he is ‘unafraid to take on liberals and the Black Lives Matter movement’ and that his political beliefs include ‘returning to the bedrock Constitutional principles of limited government and maximum personal responsibility.’ 

Some Newsom supporters claimed that the recall is being led by far-right extremists and white nationalists, to which Edler said, ‘Do I look like a white nationalist?’ 

Compared to the other candidates, Elder said that his name recognition, outsider status and communication skills make him stand out. He is also a staunch advocate for school choice programs, drawing on his experience attending a disadvantaged high school in a historically black neighborhood.  

In a statement, Newsom campaign spokesman Dan Newman called Elder ‘another Trump supporter’ attempting to appeal to the former president’s fan base. 

The election is set for Sept. 14, though voters will received ballots earlier by mail. The ballot had two parts, one that asks voters if they want to remove Newsom from office and the next asking which candidate should replace him. The votes for his replacement will only be counted if more than half of voters say ‘yes’ to the first question.