As California government Gavin Newsom’s recall effort intensifies, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer hopes to achieve what no Republican has had since 2003: becoming governor of one of the country’s bluest states.
“I believe Californians want a change,” Faulconer said. “When we look at reality, we all like our state, but what we see is that work is fleeing. Our state cannot do the basics. ”
Faulconer, who served as mayor from 2014 to 2020, announced his candidacy this week after months of attacks on Newsom over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. In an online video released on Monday, the 54-year-old temperate California was portrayed as a failed state laden with scandal and a deteriorating quality of life. He said he was running “to make a difference, not to make promises.”
“He let us down,” Faulconer said in the video about Newsom. “I know we can clean up California.”
This week, volunteers collected more than 1.4 million signatures across the country in support of the Newsom recall. The campaign must gather 1.5 million signatures by mid-March to enforce an election, and it will need a surplus of signatures, as some are likely to be disqualified during the certification process. Civil servants verified 410,000 in early January.
Fueled by an economic downturn during the coronavirus pandemic, Newsom critics say the governor has closed public schools for too long and has not rectified the state’s unemployment benefit system, its record homelessness and an affordable housing shortage.
According to a poll released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, 54 percent of Californians rate Newsom’s performance well, up from 65 percent in May.
What started as a conservative led recall effort has garnered dual support over the past few months, while Democrats have also criticized Newsom over its shifting Covid-19 vaccine strategy and allowing schools to remain closed. Now Faulconer promises a ‘return to California’ if voters prefer him over Newsom.
“The recall will take place,” said Thad Kousser, professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego. “Clearly, Republicans smell blood, and this is the best chance of turning a blue state around.”
Still, Kousser described Faulconer’s chance to beat Newsom as a ‘long shot’.
‘The Republican Party [in California] gradually declined and became really politically irrelevant, ”he said. “You had a Republican party that clearly put itself in conflict with the various voters in California.”
Faulconer considers himself a different kind of conservative. Faulconer was raised at an early age in Oxnard, a coastal city northwest of Los Angeles, and stayed away from the anti-immigrant rhetoric that eventually condemned another Republican, former Gov. Pete Wilson.
Faulconer won two terms in a Democratic city with a majority Democratic council. As mayor of California’s second-largest city, with a population of 1.4 million, he helped curb homelessness in San Diego and move people in the streets to the city’s convention center after a hepatitis A outbreak swept through the population. After that, his office’s efforts helped hundreds of homeless people find housing solutions, reports NBC San Diego.
“We have to say that it is unacceptable for people to live and die on our sidewalks,” Faulconer said. “I believe that individuals have the right to shelter.”
Despite some achievements in alleviating the city’s homelessness problem, Faulconer is criticized for relying too heavily on law enforcement to wipe people off the streets. Police teams cleaned sidewalks and cleared campsites, and a new law banned sleeping in cars. People experiencing homelessness have been swept into temporary shelters, but housing costs remain high throughout the city.
Under his watch, the Chargers football team moved to Los Angeles after 55 years. Faulconer said the team made the decision: “It was a final deal.”
Another likely challenge for Faulconer is his support for former President Donald Trump. He voted for Trump in 2020 after saying four years earlier that “his divisive rhetoric is unacceptable,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
Since November, Faulconer has wiped out any possible shortcoming that could lead to his voting record in a state that has overwhelmingly voted for President Joe Biden.
“We have our own unique brand,” he said of conservatives in California. “I consider myself a Republican in California who is fiscally healthy, cares about the environment, builds bridges and achieves results.”
Faulconer is one of several Republicans who have shown interest in unsettling Newsom. Businessman John Cox is considering an attack on the governor if the recall attempt is successful. This would be the second time Cox has taken on Newsom – he will lose in 2018 to the current governor.
Faulconer said that even if he does not succeed in beating Newsom during a special election, he will run for governor again in 2022.