A group of bipartisan Californians have a plan to chase liberal Governor Gavin Newsom out of office for his ‘woeful’ response to the LA wildfires.
The Democrat, 57, has faced calls to resign for the devastating handling of the catastrophe, with everyone from Donald Trump to Hollywood stars slamming his and Mayor Karen Bass’ lack of leadership.
Saving California, a group that touts itself as a ‘non-partisan coalition of working families, professionals, and community advocates,’ have launched another recall against Newsom.
Newsom faced and won his first recall battle – which was launched for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic – for California in September 2021 in a landslide victory.
Randy Economy, a key spokesperson and senior adviser to the first campaign and a former advisor to RFK Jr., founded the initial effort late last year.
Now, while he acknowledges that he was already done with Newsom because of ‘increased costs of living, increased crime, increased drug use and homelessness’ among other issues, the wildfires has pushed him into further action.
Economy calls Newsom ‘woefully unprepared and incompetent’ as the wildfires continue to rage through the city.
‘Leadership is solving problems, not passing the buck and the blame, and Californians can no longer afford to have an empty suit occupying the governorship,’ he said in a statement.
Hollywood loves a sequel and Gavin Newsom may be seeing one, as a bipartisan group attempts to make the California governor face a recall for the second time
The Democrat, 57, has faced calls to resign for the devastating and incompetent response to the LA wildfires
He called the recall a ‘last hope’ to get rid of Newsom before he is term-limited out of office in 2027.
They plan to serve the governor with papers in the next two weeks.
A spokesperson for Newsom told Newsweek that the governor is ‘100 percent focused on the fires, ongoing rescue efforts and the recovery process – not politics.’
‘Readers still should have the context that the same group of far-right Trump acolytes have launched six different recall attempts against the governor since he’s taken office, each of which have failed spectacularly.
‘Even Republican Party leaders have criticized these repeated attempts as a brazen campaign finance ‘grift,’ and the recall organizers have been sued by their own donors for pocketing funds raised previously.’
This comes as Newsom faces fury after claiming he does not know how the Los Angeles wildfires happened – while appearing to cast blame on other officials, including LA mayor Karen Bass.
When asked for comment, a spokesperson for Saving California that a recall for Bass wasn’t being ruled out by the group but for now, Newsom is their focus.
Most recently, Newsom was slammed for trying to draw in donations for the victims through his own Super PAC.
Randy Economy, a key spokesperson and senior adviser to the first campaign and a former advisor to RFK Jr., founded the effort late last year
When asked for comment, a spokesperson for Saving California that a recall for LA Mayor Karen Bass wasn’t being ruled out by the group but for now, Newsom is their focus
The governor shared a link to californiafirefacts.com – a website created by his campaign committee – claiming it would combat misinformation about the devastating Los Angeles fires.
He has been steering donations meant for California wildfire victims through his super PAC’s fundraising page, which collects donors’ personal information for Democratic databases.
But critics quickly noticed that while the site encourages donations to the California Fire Foundation, it funnels all contributions through ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s fundraising platform, via Newsom’s Campaign for Democracy super PAC.
Donors who provide phone numbers are also automatically enrolled to receive text messages from Newsom’s political organization.
Newsom has been blasted for his attempt to harvest donor data while victims lose homes.
It sparked immediate backlash with critics pointing out that the California Fire Foundation already accepts direct donations without requiring Democratic Party middlemen.
Newsom has been accused of ‘passing the buck’ in his latest attempts to defend his response to the devastating ‘Palisade Fire’ inferno across the state, as the official death toll today rose to 16.
The man previously touted as a potential Democrat presidential candidate has also been criticized over $100million cuts to funding earmarked for tackling wildfires
A fire fighting helicopter drops water as the Palisades fire grows near the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood and Encino, California, on January 11
The controversy comes as Los Angeles residents continue to grapple with devastating wildfires that have destroyed homes and forced widespread evacuations across the region.
As the official death toll from the fires climbs to 24, anxious residents are preparing for another 72 hours of hellish weather conditions expected to propel the fires in new directions.
The fatality total is expected to climb, with at least 16 people still missing and 150,000 forced to evacuate their homes.
In all, four fires have consumed more than 62 square miles across the most affluent neighborhoods of LA, with A-list celebrity homes and restaurant hotspots among the 12,300 structures wiped out.
Local fire departments have warned that harsher winds and more fire would prevent those under mandatory evacuation orders from returning home to assess the damage.
‘Life-threatening winds and dangerously low humidity are forecast for much of Southern California, creating a significant risk of rapid fire spread,’ the California fire service (CalFire) said in a statement. ‘The winds will cause increased fire activity.’
The Eaton Fire near Pasadena and the Palisades Fire, in a wealthy enclave along the Pacific Coast, alone accounted for 59 square miles (nearly 153 square kilometers).
Nearly 70,000 customers were without power across California as of Sunday, more than half of them in Los Angeles County, according to PowerOutrage.com.
Extreme dry weather conditions due to a prolonged drought, dry vegetation and powerful Santa Ana winds that reached up to 80 mph in some areas this week created the ‘perfect storm’ for the fires.
Two people have also been arrested for allegedly lighting fires in the county too, including Ruben Montes, 29, who was detained for arson on Sunday in Irwindale, roughly 16 miles away from Altadena, where the deadly Eaton Fire continues to rage.
Mexican national Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva, was also taken into custody after allegedly being caught on video walking with a yellow blowtorch before he was confronted by residents in Calabasas, west of Beverly Hills.
