SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) — As the secretary of state finalized the number of signatures on the petition to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom this week, organizers of the recall told Inside California Politics that they are pleased overall with the direction this effort is heading.
Recall proponents have not yet endorsed any candidate that’s come forward so far, but senior advisor of the effort Randy Economy said he was pleased with Republican former Olympian and reality star Caitlyn Jenner’s first media interview Wednesday on Fox News.
“She looked like a great leader. We’re not going to take a position on her as well, but I think the reviews are in and I think she was a success,” Economy said.
Another Republican candidate, Rancho Santa Fe businessman John Cox, wrapped up his six-city tour Thursday in the Central Valley.
“We’ve got a choice. It’s the beauty or the beast,” Cox said. “We’ve seen what the beauty has done. I think it’s time we unleash the beast.”
Cox kicked off the tour Tuesday in Sacramento with a live bear by his side.
“I don’t want to say it’s ‘campaign silly season,’ but to each his own,” Economy said. “I think it was a poor reflection upon his candidacy.”
The Humane Society of the United States was also quick to criticize the move.
“By parading around with a captive bear, candidate John Cox demonstrates that he is profoundly out of touch with Californians and their love for all things wild,” the group’s California state director said in a statement. “Citizens are rightfully outraged and disgusted by a dangerous captive brown bear, weighing hundreds of pounds, being carted around in a bus as a mere campaign prop.”
Newsom officially kicked off his own anti-recall campaign alongside firefighters on Tuesday, maintaining the recall is a partisan power grab and Republican-led effort.
“It’s the same old tired excuse that hasn’t gotten him anything. As a matter of fact, I think it just harms him because, at the end of the day, it’s not about us, it’s about him,” Economy said.
Economy said the recall proponent group does plan to make recommendations on their preferred candidate or candidates to replace Newsom, but there is no timeline on that just yet.
