To no one's surprise — except for maybe the conservative zealots who were also sure Gavin Newsom would be ousted in the pointless, failed recall election of September 2021 — the Democratic governor of the nation's largest state handily won reelection on Tuesday over state Sen. Brian Dahle, R-Bieber. At 8:01 p.m., yes, only one minute after California polls closed, CNN declared the former lieutenant governor and San Francisco mayor the winner. With Democrats — incumbents as well as new faces — on track to win all other statewide offices, it's clear that the Golden State remains the deepest blue.
Nonetheless, there are warning signs that Newsom's victory vibes may be ephemeral. When Newsom's predecessor Jerry Brown left the governor's office in January 2019, he did so after two terms in which his emphasis on increasing housing — both to bring down the cost of shelter for all Californians and to relieve the homelessness crisis seen up and down the state — produced some legislative victories but no substantial progress. And there is little reason to think Newsom will fare better than Brown in addressing these and other huge issues. Despite Sacramento paying more attention to housing than ever of late, new laws to emerge have yet to provide relief to those who desperately need it. The cost of shelter remains staggering for middle income and poor residents alike, cementing California's status as the nation's epicenter of poverty. Newsom's recent stunt of putting a hold on state aid to local homelessness programs seems more like an attempt to shift blame than to create change. Apart from his CARE Court push to make more mentally ill and addicted homeless people accept treatment, he has offered local leaders little to rally around.
Between poverty, homelessness, rising crime, soaring energy costs and chronic water shortages, California's quality of life has taken a dramatic hit. Dahle may have been an uninspiring candidate, but when he said life for state residents who aren't wealthy hasn't improved in an era of Democratic dominance, he has a case. The state's population is going down for the first time as a result.
