Vote No On All The Recalls
Reject the Deception
acrylic on paper voter guide, 8.5” x 11”, 2021
Make sure you and everyone you know in California has a plan to VOTE NO ON THE RECALL by September 14 in the terrible, stupid, malicious recall election.
Registered voters should get a ballot in the mail by August 21 (check your registration here to confirm they have the right address). Refer to the League of Women Voters of San Francisco website for a very clear and detailed explanation of the whole process.
The ballot has 2 questions on it. Here is how I voted:
1. Do you want to recall Governor Newsom (remove him from office)?
NO!
This recall election is a Trumpist, anti-mask, anti-vax, racist campaign. For all of Gavin Newsom's mediocrity, he is way way waaaaay better than any of the ridiculous Republican clowns who would replace him. Here is a handy list of “9 Reasons to Vote No on the Newsom Recall Even If You Hate Newsom.”
Democrats have a clear majority in California, but if we don’t vote, that means nothing. Polls are showing this will be a close race because the Republicans are more likely to vote.
Sadly, this recall campaign has already proven successful. Our Democrat leaders are afraid that mask or vaccine mandates, or any compassionate policy moves, will provoke a larger Republican turnout.
Let’s rally for an overwhelming “NO” vote so that our government can get back to work.
2. If the governor is recalled, who do you want to replace him?
Dan Kapelovitz
This was a hard choice. Kapelovitz is running as a Green Party candidate with experience as a defense attorney and an investigative journalist. He seems relatively competent and is endorsing a “No” vote on the recall question.
Candidates I also considered:
Angelyne
She is a professional celebrity who recognizes that “politics is a dumb circus,” which is an appropriate statement to make in this case. She is also very much in favor of otters.
Joel Ventresca
Ventresca is an experienced political operative with a progressive platform, but instead of advocating for a “NO” vote on the recall, his horrendously designed website just lists criticisms of Newsom.
What about Kevin Paffrath?
Paffrath is the “Democrat” that is polling highest, but his views are all quite Republican and pretty terrible. He has a YouTube following for his videos about real estate investments. He complains about business taxes and is actively campaigning for people to vote ‘yes’ on the recall.
These aren’t good choices
The Democratic Party and others are campaigning to leave question #2 blank to avoid any chance of encouraging "yes" votes on question 1 - but that's dangerous. If the recall does pass, we should try to keep the COVID-deniers out of office. None of the 46 candidates have a major party endorsement, so someone could easily become governor with just 15% of the vote. And with Democrats telling us to leave it blank, that person would likely be a Trump-supporting radio host who wants to eliminate the minimum wage.
I was really hoping that some organizations with statewide clout would come together behind a candidate on the ballot or as a write-in option, but it’s really too late for that. And write-in votes are not counted unless the candidate files some paperwork, so a write-in vote for Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis or for Newsom would be the same as leaving it blank.
Please, don't sign any recall petitions.
Conservatives in San Francisco are trying to recall members of the Board of Education and progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin. These efforts are expensive and are part of national Trump-supporting campaigns. The school board recall organizers went on Glen Beck's show to rally right wing internet trolls to attack our school board commissioners.
We could discuss ways that the school district has fumbled through the last year or perceptions of crime in the city, but these recalls would move us away from solutions and are mostly about preserving institutional racism.
Read more about all this nonsense
The San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters has a longer voter guide that delves further into the malicious stupidity of the governor recall election and has ideas for how the process could be reformed.