Recalling Governor Newsom Can Restore California’s Promise

California is where the future starts. As the former mayor of San Diego and a lifelong resident, I can tell you that this is a point of pride for us Californians.

But lately our state government has been setting national trends for the wrong reasons. After more than a decade of one-party rule at the state capitol, Californians are voicing their frustrations by joining the effort to recall Governor Gavin Newsom, who has been pulling the levers of power in Sacramento for much of his political career.

Take for example the law signed by Newsom that threatened to dramatically restrict people’s ability to work as freelancers. California voters and independent contractors successfully fought back against major elements of Assembly Bill 5. But now this job-destroying policy is going national. AB 5 has new life as the PRO Act that was reintroduced this year by Democrats and just approved by the House of Representatives.

Then there is the cancel culture movement led by the San Francisco School Board, the city where Newsom was once mayor. While millions of public school students are still waiting to return to classrooms under Newsom’s watch, the board decided to spend its time cancelling George Washington and Abraham Lincoln by taking their names off local schools.

We are in the middle of the worst economic, educational, and public health crisis ever faced in our nation. Our priorities must be expanding jobs, not eliminating them, and reopening schools, not renaming them.

I’m running for governor because it’s time for a California Comeback. Our state, once so full of promise, has become the land of broken promises. And the promise-breaker-in-chief is Gavin Newsom.

Newsom promised equality, but he has presided over some of the worst inequality in the nation. He promised prosperity but backed high costs, higher taxes, and destroyed jobs. He promised compassion, but allowed homelessness to skyrocket, with shattered lives piling up on our sidewalks.

As more of our neighbors and relatives pack up and move out of state, it seems the only people thriving under Newsom are the folks who work at U-Haul.

Unfortunately, the consequences of Newsom’s broken promises have become even more perilous during the pandemic. Newsom has completely botched the basics that matter most during this crisis.

He has been unable to reliably issue unemployment benefits to Californians after he shut down businesses, and his administration sent billions of taxpayer dollars to criminals in the worst fraud scheme in state history. All of this on top of his confusing and mismanaged rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Newsom’s snowballing failures throughout this emergency are such an immediate and urgent hazard to the people of California that he must be removed from office through a constitutional recall.

When the pandemic first struck, as mayor of San Diego I worked with the public employees who reported to me – like firefighters, police officers and waste collectors – to establish safety protocols so they could do their jobs. I knew I had an obligation to my employees to keep them safe, and a duty to the public to keep providing essential services.

Yet when presented with the same challenge, Newsom waited months to engage with educators. Even his latest so-called reopening plan for schools does not actually require classrooms to reopen.

It’s time to restore California’s place as guiding light for our country, not a cautionary tale. California is a land of promise — promise that can only be fulfilled with a Governor who understands what makes our state so special to begin with, and allows our great people to thrive.

Kevin Faulconer served as the 36th Mayor of San Diego. He is currently running for Governor of California. 

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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