Newsom Glides To Victory In CA Governor's Race: CA Elections Results

CALIFORNIA — Gavin Newsom has won another term as governor of the Golden State, according to a race called by the Associated Press.

Newsom has continued to firmly seal his position as California's governor after surviving a recall election in August of last year, which helped him sail to success again in June's primary, when he beat lesser known Republican opponent, Sen. Brian Dahle (R-Bieber) by more than 40 points.

In the General Election, Newsom faced Dahle yet again and was leading with 61 percent of reported votes before 11 p.m. on Tuesday, according to early results. Dahle garnered some 39 percent, according to early results.

"Thank you, California!!" Newsom tweeted just before 10:30 p.m., hours after the race was called.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press also called an early race for Sen. Alex Padilla, 49, who made history yet again on Tuesday evening. Padilla became the first Latino to be elected to represent California in the U.S. Senate.

“We have a hell of a fight ahead of us, and I’m heading back to the Senate ready to help lead that fight,” Padilla said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

California now sends mail ballots to all registered voters, and any ballots postmarked by today will still be counted through Nov. 15, which can delay final results. As of Sunday, nearly 4.9 million of the 22.2 million ballots mailed had been returned. California’s election results will be certified in early December, and the secretary of state will publish the official vote counts by mid-December, according to CalMatters.

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On Tuesday, Newsom was expected to glide to yet another easy victory in blue California, but rumors of a presidential run have tended to pique voters interest this election season over his the actual race.

The two gubernatorial candidates faced off on Oct. 23 during a one-hour debate hosted by KQED in San Francisco. The debate was chalked with personal insults and heated attacks after months of a remarkably quiet race.

Dahle accused the governor of focusing more on national issues while Newsom maintained that Dahle's "extreme" anti-abortion stance would face 10-year-old incest victims to carry a pregancy to term.

“I want to start out by thanking the governor for taking time out of going forward on his dream of being president of the United States and actually coming to California and having a debate,” Dahle said. “Californians are suffering. They’re fleeing California and they’re going to other states where he’s campaigning nationally.”

Moderators asked Newsom if he planned to serve out the full four years if he were handed another term.

"Yes," Newsom returned. "And I’ve barely been out of state. I was out of state for a few hours to take on his party and [the] leader of his party, Donald Trump, who he is a passionate supporter of."

Dahle did not discuss the specifics of his beliefs about abortion. He instead lambasted Newsom for adding hundreds of millions of dollars in new money for abortion services in the latest state budget, including $20 million to help women from outside California travel here for the procedure, CalMatters reported.

“He wants to make this a sanctuary state where all of Americans can come here and get an abortion at the expense of Califonia taxpayers,” Dahle said, according to CalMatters. “I know that’s a great platform when you’re running for the president of the United States. But here in California, people are struggling, and yes, I would absolutely take that out of the budget.”

Dahle tried to focus on the high cost of living in California, as exemplified by gasoline prices that are nearly $2 per gallon more than the national average, according to CalMatters.

He said the state is affordable only for Newsom’s wealthy friends, blaming overly burdensome environmental regulations and climate policies that Dahle believes are the wrong priority at a time when the state is deep in drought and struggled to keep the lights on during a recent historic heat wave.

“We have no water. We have no electricity. We have no plan,” Dahle said.

In the months and weeks leading up to the debate, the Democratic governor hadn't mentioned much of Dahle. Instead, Newsom set his targets on a governor over state lines — or six to be exact.

In the midst of a recent Twitter spat, Newsom challenged Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to a debate, triggered by DeSantis' claim that Newsom's brain had been muddled by his hair gel.

Newsom's re-election campaign also spent millions renting billboards in six states that have abortion bans this year.

The governor appears to have traded in a Nov. 8 campaign to instead ruffle feathers in other states. His recent moves have sparked rumors of bigger political ambitions. The governor has denied rumors of a presidential run repeatedly in recent months.

“No, not happening. I cannot say it enough,” Newsom said. “I never trust politicians, so I get why you keep asking.”

But many aren't buying that answer.

"It's pretty clear that Gavin Newsom is going to run for president," Dan Schnur, a political communications professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Southern California, told Patch. "It's just a question of whether he runs in 2024 or 2028.

"In the meantime, going after high-profile national Republicans is also a very effective way for him to unify his base here in California. Not every Democrat agrees with Newsom on every issue — but they all can agree that they hate Ron DeSantis."

Newsom's repetitive refutes of the idea are part of the strategy and not technically a lie, Schnur said.
"It looks disrespectful to President Biden," Schnur said. "It looks like he's trying to elbow Biden off the stage, and it looks like he's not paying full attention to his full-time job back home.

"And he's technically telling the truth. He is absolutely, doubtlessly not running for president at this precise moment."

Newsom could also be set on Sen. Dianne Feinstein's seat. Should she retire soon, he could appoint himself. If she waits until the end of her term, Newsom would get a head start in that race by stirring presidential speculation, according to Schnur.

"Newsom is setting a course for higher office, after his tenure as governor," Sonja Diaz, director of UCLA's Latino Policy and Politics Institute, told The Guardian.

Meanwhile, Dahle has been working to make a name for himself among California voters, with much less funding than Newsom. But it was far from likely that he could win in blue California on Tuesday.

"California Republicans didn't get themselves into this situation overnight and they're not going to get out of it right away either," Schnur said. "It's very unlikely that Dahle wins this election, but he may represent a first step back in the right direction for California Republicans."

A note about Dahle — he is the first Republican gubernatorial finalist to have successfully held an elective office since 1998, Schnur said.

"I don't know that it gives him a big advantage, but it points to the possibility that Republicans may realize they have to rebuild their party from the ground up," he said. "For many years, it looks as though they've been searching for a magic candidate who can swoop in and save them.

"It worked with Schwarzenegger, but not with any of the others."

CalMatters contributed to this report.