California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has won the right to blame “Republicans and Trump supporters” for the Sept. 14 recall election.
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Laurie M. Earl said in a final ruling that Newsom’s proposed wording for the voter information handbook does not violate election law – echoing her prior conclusion in a tentative decision before a hearing, according to Yahoo News.
“The Court finds there is nothing false or misleading about describing the recall effort’s leaders as Trump supporters,” wrote Earl.
Recall leaders charged in a lawsuit that Newsom was lying in his ballot statement because not all recall supporters and candidates vying to replace Newsom were Republicans.
During a hearing Thursday, the recall backers also claimed Newsom lied when he said they were “abusing our recall laws.”
Earl disagreed, saying there was “an argument that this recall is an abuse of a perfectly legal process.”
“The recall is being held less than three years after a sizable majority of California voters elected Newsom Governor,” she noted.
Earl said that while reasonable minds may disagree on the propriety of the recall, Newsom’s statement falls within the realm of ‘legitimate political debate,’ according to the report.
Meanwhile, a recent shock poll has Newsom losing the recall by double digits, according to SFGate.
The poll came from Survey USA and the San Diego Union Tribune, and was conducted among 1,100 Californians from Aug. 2 to Aug. 4. It found that 51% of respondents were in favor of recalling Newsom, while only 40% wanted to keep him in power. The previous Survey USA/San Diego Union Tribune poll from May found 36% in favor of the recall with 47% opposed.
Interestingly, Democrats support the recall by a 1:3 margin according to the poll, meaning that it isn’t just ‘Republicans and Trump supporters’ who want the governor out, despite who organized it.
