Gavin Newsom has won the recall election easily – and it’s a huge story for the Democrats going forward

| 11:31 pm EDT September 14, 2021
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California Governor Gavin Newsom has easily survived the recall race tonight, with respected outlets Decision Desk and the Cook Political Report having already called the race. This means it’s in blowout territory. MSNBC and CNN are still officially dragging out the call, but they’ve basically acknowledged that it’s over (Update 11:38pm, MSNBC and CNN just called it). This was a widely expected result, and it’s a reminder that the final polling averages in any given election (not individual polls, but the averages) are usually proven correct within the stated margin of error. But this is nonetheless a big deal.

Keep in mind that this race was not always a foregone conclusion. Just a few weeks ago, the polling averages said that the recall election was tied. But then we all mobilized and put in the work required to win any election – voting, getting people registered to vote, donating, phone banking, going door to door, sending reminders to friends and family – and sure enough, Newsom quickly pulled way ahead in the polls and then won.

The Republicans really thought they had something here. They were hoping we’d be unmotivated because we’d already spent all of 2020 getting Joe Biden elected. They were hoping to catch us with our guard down. But we didn’t let that happen. Instead we showed that when we in the “Resistance” (or whatever we’re calling ourselves these days) properly gear up to win a fight, we’re just as potent as ever.

This clearly demonstrates that if we put in the work required to win, and if we fight like we’re going to win, we can win the Virginia election in November of 2021, and then we can win the midterms in November of 2022. We can keep the House. We can expand the Senate majority. We can take down terrible Governors like Abbott and DeSantis. We can do it all.

We just proved that when we properly put up a fight, the unpopular Republicans and their bag of lame tricks are no match for us. Now we can take this huge momentum from the California blowout and run with it going forward. If we keep fighting like we’re going to win, there’s no stopping us.