Stay with me here.
Governor Newsom could resign, leaving Democrat Eleni Kounalakis to take over as governor.
The recall election would go away.
The risk of a science-denying, lunatic right-winger or wholly unqualified YouTuber becoming governor would go away.
The risk of a science-denying lunatic right-winger or wholly unqualified YouTuber having the power to fill any potential consequential vacancies would go away.
The risk of a candidate with fewer votes than the the recalled governor becoming governor would go away.
It would call attention to the desperate need to reform the too-easy recall system in California.
California would get its first woman as Governor, a former Ambassador and native Californian daughter of Greek immigrants, and continuity of governance would be ensured.
Governor Newsom would be able to take a few weeks off and gear up for another run for Governor in the next election, leaving the state in sound hands.
He could take the high road, not wanting to put the people of California through the spectacle of a recall election chock full of fringe candidates who might win and be installed as governor while earning a small minority of the votes cast. The people of California deserve better, and all he has to do is step down on principle that the recall system is broken and that he dare not risk the harm to the state posed by letting it go forward. He would look magnanimous, and Republicans would be furious, denied the opportunity to seize a statewide office without winning the majority of votes. Win-win.
Governor Newsom would preserve his political futures, with certainty, rather than risk of a recall by a public frustrated by the pandemic and ready to lash out. And he would save the reasonable people of the state a lot of heartache and expense.
UPDATE: I was wrong. CardiffCoaster brought the relevant election code, which states that:
“(a) Except as described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b), if a vacancy occurs in an office after a recall petition is filed against the vacating officer, the recall election shall nevertheless proceed.”
So this means that even though the entire state is voting on the question “Shall GAVIN NEWSOM be recalled (removed) from the office of Governor?”, if he were to resign, the Lt. Governor would replace him, but it seems that she would be replaced by whoever won the recall on Question 2. In theory, the Lt. Governor who was elevated could even be from the opposite party of a governor who resigned in the face of a recall and still be removed. And this is why I am not a lawyer.
I can imagine there would be some challenges if that were to happen, since the language in front of voters is not what the law would do. But nevertheless it means one thing. The only hope is to vote NO on question one to avoid a disruption to the continuity of government and at a minimum a year and a half of chaos.
