Democratic Club Rallies Behind Gov. Newsom

Palm Desert Democratic Club lends financial support to Gov. Newsom

PALM DESERT — Palm Desert Greens Democratic Club has voted $50 to Equality California to help in the effort to defeat the recall of our “very effective” Democratic Governor, Gavin Newsom, according to Charles Ara, Club president.

The idea to lend financial aid to fight the recall effort was the brainchild of Palm Springs Mayor Pro Tem Lisa Middleton, the first out transgender person elected to a non-judicial office in California.

“We note your heroic efforts over the years to promote the rights of the LGBT community,” Ara wrote in the letter.

The California Secretary of State announced in April that 1,626,042 signatures were valid—more than the 1,495,709 valid signatures required to trigger a recall election. Recall organizers had turned in more than 2.1 million signatures by the March 17 deadline.

There’s one more step before the recall is officially on. Until June 8, voters can request their signatures be removed from the petition. Requests must be sent in writing to a county election official. If enough valid signatures remain after the June 8 deadline, the recall campaign will enter a budgeting and scheduling phase.

As a reminder: A recall election would present voters with two questions. The first would ask whether Newsom should be recalled, and a majority of voters would need to approve this for him to be recalled. The second would ask who should succeed Newsom if he is recalled. The candidate with the most votes on the second question would win the election, no majority required.

Some folks have already thrown their names in the race. They are Caitlyn Jenner, John Cox, Jeff Hewitt and others.

Since 1911, there have been 55 attempts to recall a sitting California governor. Six of those—including the present one—have targeted Newsom. The only successful recall campaign was in 2003, when voters recalled then-Gov. Gray Davis (D). That year, voters elected Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) out of 135 candidates as Davis’ replacement.