AP

Recall vote highlights California’s geopolitical divisions

Sep 18, 2021, 8:13 PM | Updated: Sep 19, 2021, 9:08 am

FILE — In this Sept. 13, 2021, file photo President Joe Biden, center, smiles to the crowd as he ...

FILE — In this Sept. 13, 2021, file photo President Joe Biden, center, smiles to the crowd as he is flanked by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel Newsom at a rally ahead of the California gubernatorial recall election in Long Beach, Calif. In the recall election, Newsom won big in coastal urban areas such as Los Angeles County, while the pro-recall side performed better in California's Central Valley and northern areas. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)


              FILE — In this Sept. 7, 2021, file photo, Republican gubernatorial recall candidate Larry Elder, center, greets supporters before giving a speech in Clovis, Calif., in Fresno County. In the recall election, Gov. Gavin Newsom won big in coastal urban areas such as Los Angeles County, while the pro-recall effort performed better in the Central Valley and Northern California. Elder was the preferred replacement choice for voters who wanted Newsom removed from office. (Craig Kohlruss/The Fresno Bee via AP, File)
            
              FILE — In this Sept. 13, 2021, file photo President Joe Biden, center, smiles to the crowd as he is flanked by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel Newsom at a rally ahead of the California gubernatorial recall election in Long Beach, Calif. In the recall election, Newsom won big in coastal urban areas such as Los Angeles County, while the pro-recall side performed better in California's Central Valley and northern areas. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The California recall election was a blowout win for Gov. Gavin Newsom that reinforced the state’s political divisions: The Democratic governor won big support in coastal areas and urban centers, while the rural north and agricultural inland, with far fewer voters, largely wanted him gone.

“It’s almost like two states,” Menlo College political scientist Melissa Michelson said.

Though California is a liberal stronghold where Democrats hold every statewide office and have two-thirds majorities in the Legislature, it is also home to deeply conservative areas. Those residents have long felt alienated from Sacramento, where Democrats have been in full control for more than a decade.

A conservative movement in far Northern California has for years sought to break away and create its own state to better reflect the area’s political sensitivities.

While Republicans still are able to win some local elections, the party hasn’t captured a statewide race since 2006. Last year, then-President Donald Trump got 6 million votes in California in 2020 — more than any Republican presidential candidate before him — but still lost in a landslide to Democrat Joe Biden, who won nearly 64% of the votes.

Republicans hold just 11 of the state’s 53 U.S. House seats, but their strongholds don’t have nearly enough votes to overcome Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and other Democratic areas in statewide elections. And counties such as San Diego and especially Orange, respectively the second- and third-most populated, used to be mainly Republican but no longer are.

With about 85% of the recall ballots counted, those opposed to retiring Newsom early had 64%. In San Diego, “no” on recall was winning by 17 percentage points and in Orange it was up by 4 points.

Fresno, the 10th-most populated county, was the largest where the recall was leading. But it was only ahead by 1 percentage point.

Jeffrey Cummins, a professor of political science at Fresno State University, said the results reinforce that Newsom’s partisan critics represent “a pretty small share of the population.”

“They are very vocal about that disdain for Sacramento and state government in particular, and the recall just gave them … a national platform to voice their opposition to the direction the state is headed,” he said.

GOP organizers of the recall failed to broaden their appeal and even struggled to turn out Republicans in their core areas. For example, Kern County — most of which is represented in Congress by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — will have less than 50% turnout when all the votes are counted. Statewide turnout is projected at about 55%

Los Angeles County — with 10 million people, the largest county in the nation — is the state’s Democratic nucleus, where statewide elections can be won or lost depending on turnout. With 3 million Democrats, it accounts for nearly one-third of the party’s statewide total.

“We were in the LA media market more than any other. And that was intentional,” Newsom campaign spokesman Nathan Click said. It apparently worked — Newsom got nearly 71% support there.

It’s long been true that Democrats tend to dominate in urban areas across the U.S., with Republicans more prevalent in rural and farming areas. But deep, geographic polarization wasn’t always a marker in California politics.

There’s no single cause to the current divide. But they include the early 1990s recession and the closing of military bases and collapse of the defense industry, which prompted many white, working-class residents to leave the state.

California’s economy became more focused on a rising Silicon Valley and the entertainment industry, both liberal bastions. At the same time, the state grew more diverse as millions of Latino and Asian people moved in. Over time, the coastal areas where most of the population lives grew more diverse and Democratic.

Eric McGhee, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, said a decade ago the geographic divide largely was defined by the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas, but San Diego, Orange and San Bernardino counties, with a combined population of 8.5 million people, have all become more diverse and Democratic.

Since his first days in office, Newsom has promised to not ignore the Central Valley and has made it a point to travel there on a regular basis. He backs the controversial high-speed rail project under construction in the region and has vowed to provide more drinking water to areas that lack it.

But his administration has also alienated farmers, the backbone of the region’s economy, with restrictions on water usage amid a drought.

Newsom on Wednesday pledged to respect and work hard on behalf of those who supported him and those who didn’t.

“Those who voted ‘yes,’ they matter. I care. And I want them to know I’m going to do my best to have their backs as well,” he said.

But the reality is that Newsom can’t make everyone happy.

“Newsom is governing a very large and very diverse state, and it’s hard to be attentive to the very liberal coasts and the more moderate or even conservative” areas, said Jessica Trounstine, a political science professor at the University of California, Merced, in the state’s Central Valley.

__

Blood reported from Los Angeles.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Image: A cargo ship is stuck under the part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after ...

Associated Press

Authorities identify 2 bodies recovered at site of Baltimore bridge collapse

A major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below.

2 days ago

Photo: Mountaineer Jim Whittaker has died at 95....

Gene Johnson, The Associated Press

Lou Whittaker, among the most famous American mountaineers, has died at age 95

Lou Whittaker, a legendary American mountaineer who helped lead ascents of Mount Everest, K2 and Denali, has died at age 95.

2 days ago

File photo: Former Sen. Joe Lieberman speaks in Washington on Jan. 18, 2024....

Associated Press

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP pick in 2000, dead at 82

Former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in 2000, has died.

2 days ago

islamic state attack...

Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press

What we know after the Islamic State group claims responsibility for Moscow massacre

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people.

5 days ago

Moscow shooting...

The Associated Press

Russia: 60 dead, 145 injured in concert hall raid; Islamic State group claims responsibility

Assailants burst into a concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing over 60 people, injuring more than 100.

7 days ago

Photo: Britain's Kate, Duchess of Cambridge visits 282 (East Ham) Squadron, RAF Air Cadets, Cornwel...

Associated Press

Kate Middleton announces she has cancer, is undergoing chemotherapy

Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, says she is undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer. She has been out of view since Christmas.

7 days ago

Recall vote highlights California’s geopolitical divisions