General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHere's how many California voters left question two of the Gavin Newsom recall ballot blank
In his campaign to survive the Sept. 14 recall election, Gov. Gavin Newsom implored Democratic voters to leave the second question of the recall ballot blank. The question asked: If Gavin Newsom is recalled, which candidate should replace him?
This strategy was deployed in order to paint the recall as a choice between Newsom and replacement frontrunner Larry Elder, a firebrand conservative radio host whose decision to enter the race late has since been blamed for Newsom's landslide victory.
Elder dominated the ballot's second question, receiving 46.9% of the question vote as of 9:10 a.m. Wednesday morning. The next closest candidates were Kevin Paffrath and Kevin Faulconer at 9.8% and 8.6%, respectively.
However, that big lead for Elder is a bit misleading. As of Wednesday morning totals, there were 9,137,428 total votes cast on question one (Shall Gavin Newsom be recalled?), and just 5,057,445 cast on question two.
https://www.sfgate.com/gavin-newsom-recall/article/leave-question-two-blank-recall-Newsom-Elder-vote-16461275.php
ColinC
(8,291 posts)Lol
ItsjustMe
(11,230 posts)I put my own name
lame54
(35,287 posts)Lots of people questioned this strategy
In the last Recall they pushed Bustamante as a dem safety net which caused some to vote Yes on the first question thinking a dem would still be in charge
The new strategy clearly put D's vs R's and it worked beautifully
former9thward
(31,997 posts)Last time the Rs had a celebrity candidate -- Arnold. They did not have anyone even close to that this time.
lame54
(35,287 posts)The safety net got a lot of dems to vote Yes on the recall
Didn't happen this time
Winning is great but a blowout sends a stronger message
former9thward
(31,997 posts)Last edited Wed Sep 15, 2021, 04:22 PM - Edit history (1)
CA is a celebrity state like no other. Your fame counts.
lame54
(35,287 posts)Yes, Arnold was popular and may have won anyways but
The strategy this time was the opposite and the outcome wildly different
lunatica
(53,410 posts)Which I think is why people voted for him.
brush
(53,776 posts)to retain Newsom as governor.
former9thward
(31,997 posts)sdfernando
(4,935 posts)You would need to know how many of those that answered question 2 also voted No on the Recall. I would venture to guess the majority of those that answered question 2 were GQP so they were going to ignore Newsom no matter what.
former9thward
(31,997 posts)Assuming all the Yes voted on #2, Then it means around 1,800,000 of those who voted No also voted on #2. Which means 31% of those voting No on the recall also voted on #2. Not a majority of the No voters but a significant amount.
sdfernando
(4,935 posts)former9thward
(31,997 posts)I said a majority of the voters. I guess you only count people who vote the way you want. Our system counts both.