President Joe Biden will travel to California “early next week” to campaign for Gov. Gavin Newsom, the White House said, juicing support for the first-term Democrat as Newsom fights to hold on to his seat.
“I expect we have more to report to all of you, or announce, on a trip he’ll take early next week, later today,” press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday. The recall election to remove Newsom from office will take place on Sept. 14.
POLLING SHOWS VULNERABLE GAVIN NEWSOM AS RECALL BALLOTS HIT MAILBOXES IN CALIFORNIA
Newsom is facing a bitter recall inside the state after more than a year of COVID-19 orders, punctuated by charges of hypocrisy when the governor was photographed dining with lobbyists in Napa Valley while the surrounding county was under lockdown.
Though Democrats hold a nearly 2 to 1 voter registration advantage in the state, dissatisfaction with Newsom’s handling of the pandemic, the state’s homelessness crisis, rising crime, and water shortages have fueled the push to replace him.
Wary of an enthusiasm gap, party officials have called in boldfaced names from Washington to shore up Democratic turnout. As voting began last month, some wondered whether Newsom and Democrats were doing enough.
“Republicans are motivated, and Democrats aren’t,” Steven Maviglio, a longtime political consultant in the state and former press secretary to recalled California Gov. Gray Davis, told the Washington Examiner in August.
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On Wednesday, Newsom will welcome his highest-profile visitor yet. Vice President Kamala Harris, a former California attorney general and U.S. senator representing the state, will stump for him in the Bay Area. An earlier visit was canceled after 13 U.S. service members died during a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan.
