As California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom pushes for a special election to advance a redistricting map favorable to Democrats, some critics are highlighting what they see as a double standard, noting his past criticism of a previous special election aimed at removing him from office.
The Newsom recall vote reportedly cost the state and counties $276 million to administer, according to an official projection from the California Department of Finance.
By comparison, the upcoming redistricting special election, scheduled for Nov. 4, is estimated to cost roughly $230 million, according to California Assembly Appropriations Committee Chair Buffy Wicks, a Democrat.
In addition to redistricting, voters in the Nov. 4 election will decide whether to temporarily suspend the map drawn by the independent commission in favor of one passed by the legislature. Politico reported that California voters have historically supported the independent redistricting commission.
Newsom previously criticized the 2021 recall vote as a “waste” of government resources. In an official statement responding to the recall effort, he said, “Here’s the worst part: Their partisan recall will waste 200 million taxpayer dollars desperately needed for emergency preparedness and response. The last thing California needs is another wasteful special election, supported by those who demonize California’s people and attack California’s values.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that Newsom described the recall effort as driven by “a handful of partisan activists supporting President Trump and his dangerous agenda to divide America” attempting “to overturn the definitive will of California voters.”
In a March press conference covered by ABC 7 News, Newsom reiterated his opposition, calling the recall “nothing more than a partisan power grab. This is, and forgive me, a Republican-backed recall.”
Other California Democrats now advocating for the redistricting vote have expressed similar frustration about the recall election’s costs. Assemblymember Marc Berman, a Democrat, told CalMatters, “Californians are very frustrated that we just spent $276 million on this recall election that, from the looks of it, certified what voters said three years ago and what voters could have said next year.”
Yet, in a recent committee discussion about the projected cost of the redistricting special election, Berman downplayed the expense, saying, “$250 million looks like couch cushion change.”
Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-Calif., previously described the recall vote as “a $276 million waste just to reaffirm 2018’s results with an election coming in 2022,” according to CNN. He now supports Newsom’s push for the special election, stating in a press release that “Democrats are committed to giving voters the opportunity to counter this move in Texas and restore some balance of power in Washington.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Jessica Millan Patterson, chair of the conservative group Stop Sacramento’s Power Grab, criticized the redistricting effort as a display of Democratic hypocrisy.
“Gavin Newsom and California Democrats have abandoned any pretense of moral high ground by forcing a wasteful special election that voters don’t want,” Patterson said. “Their blatant hypocrisy at the expense of California taxpayers sends a clear message: grasping for power matters more to them than honest, principled governing.”
Newsom’s office directed Fox News Digital to comments he made at a press conference last week, asserting, “There’s no price tag for democracy.” He also assured county officials concerned about election costs that the state of California “will be funding it.”
