SACRAMENTO, Calif. — None of the top Republicans who ran to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in the failed September recall election will challenge his bid for a second term this year, leaving the task for now to little-known challengers who will face the buzzsaw of the governor’s multimillion-dollar reelection campaign.
That puts Newsom on a seemingly clear path to reelection this November, four years after he was elected by the largest margin of any California governor over the past half-century. But rising voter concerns about crime and homelessness in California along with Newsom’s tepid job approval rating could still hurt him politically if a surprise big-name challenger jumps in at the last minute, though that is not expected.
Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, once considered the Republican Party’s best hope to defeat Newsom, announced Thursday night that he would forgo entry into California’s 2022 gubernatorial race, blaming the spectacle of last year’s Republican-led recall campaign. Newsom beat back the recall effort in part by accusing his GOP challengers of being loyalists of former President Trump backed by far-right and anti-vaccine extremists.
