Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger saw the “anger” of Californians before the recall election, and he saw the same “anger” in the historic recall he won in 2003, he said CNN.
In 2003, Californians voted to remove then Governor Gray Davis by a margin of nearly 11 percentage points. As a Republican, Schwarzenegger easily won the election to replace the Democrats, winning nearly 50% of the votes among more than 100 candidates. Eighteen years later, Californians will vote again on September 14 to decide whether to remove the current Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Schwarzenegger told the CNN host Dana Bash In a clip uploaded on Sunday, the state had the same “atmosphere” as when he won the election. He said people are upset about the same issues, including power outages, inequality and education.
“It’s exactly the same. The atmosphere when I run is exactly the same,” he said.
He agreed with Bash that there was “no Arnold Schwarzenegger” on the other side of the ballot, and Newsom could “work out in one minute how to become Arnold Schwarzenegger, even a Democrat.”
“Some people in the game have some very good answers and some good solutions,” he said.
The former governor had previously participated in elections-in March, he Dismiss the claim Newsom said the recall is a seizure of power by the Republican Party.
“This is a crazy thing, when they say it’s a’power grab’ Republicans,” Schwarzenegger told Politico at the time. “Let me tell you, [California] Republicans cannot even get anyone elected. This is ridiculous—the Republican Party does not exist. These are the signatures of ordinary people who have signed up. “
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He described someone seeing Newsom Dine in a French laundry restaurant During the COVID-19 surge—which sparked criticism for violating his own state guidelines—as the “straw that crushes the camel”, like the 2003 blackout.
However, Recent polls Shows that Newsom’s performance may be better than Davis.
For months, Newsom has led only a narrow lead in most polls because Democratic Party In pure blue California, there are concerns that liberal voters will take victory for granted.Recent polls Point him to better news.
A poll conducted by the California Institute of Public Policy at the end of August Found that 58% of voters Hope that Newsom stays, and 39% of people will vote for the recall. Another poll by Change Research in late August Indicates that 57% of voters The plan is to keep Newsom in power, and 42% of people said they would vote against him.
If Newsom is to be recalled, most opinion polls show conservative Larry Elder As a replacement for his favorite. The Trafalgar poll conducted from September 2 to 4 found that 32% of voters would choose Elder. In second place is the Democrat Kevin Pavras. Despite this, 29% of voters have yet to decide.
Newsom was elected in 2018 with 61.9% of the vote, while Republican John Cox got 38.1% of the vote. Cox ran again to replace Newsom.
Weekly newspaper Contacted the Newsom campaign team for comments on Sunday night, but received no response from the publication. This story will be updated with any response.
