California Gov. Gavin Newsom ably fended off a recall attempt from Republicans on Tuesday, changing the stakes of the contest from a referendum on his own performance and into a partisan fight over Trumpism and the coronavirus. Here are five takeaways from Newsom’s victory: COVID PRECAUTIONS CAN HELP DEMOCRATS Republicans intended the recall to be a referendum on Democrats’ rule of California, and the homelessness, crime, high housing costs and energy problems that accompanied it. But in a bit of political ju-jitsu — and with the help of the spreading delta variant — Newsom turned it into a referendum on Republicans’ opposition to precautions against the coronavirus. The Republicans running to replace Newsom opposed mask and vaccine mandates, and the California governor was happy to highlight that. Newsom aired an ad calling the recall “a matter of life and death” and accusing the top Republican candidate, talk radio host Larry Elder, of “peddling deadly conspiracy theories.” Ironically, the recall gained steam after Newsom was caught in November at a lobbyist’s birthday party at a swanky Napa Valley restaurant — unmasked and in a large party that violated his own social distancing orders. But his strategists have been arguing for weeks that his leadership during the pandemic is a plus for him — and that other Democrats shouldn’t be afraid to lead on the issue. In his remarks after winning, Newsom kept the emphasis on the virus. “I want to focus on what we said yes to as a state: We said ‘yes’ to science, we said ‘yes’ to vaccines, we said ‘yes’ to ending this pandemic,” the governor told reporters. GOP REVIVES BASELESS FRAUD CLAIMS Republicans’ groundless claims of election fraud aren’t going away anytime soon. Even while ballots were still being cast, Republicans were claiming the election was “rigged.” It was a baseless allegation — and a strange one considering Republicans performed relatively well under the same California election system in November, gaining four congressional seats. But former President Donald Trump’s false election fraud rhetoric quickly has burrowed into Republican politics. The former president enthusiastically added his own voice to the claims. And, several days before the polls closed, the Elder campaign bizarrely began circulating a link to a petition demanding an investigation into his loss, alleging widespread fraud — which some Republicans feared was a message that his voters shouldn’t even bother to show up Tuesday. The recall was always a long shot in a state where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by nearly 2-1 and where the GOP hasn’t won a statewide election since 2006. But Republicans’ turn to conspiracy theories and baseless fraud claims to explain a loss that polls had indicated was coming for months shows the party won’t walk away from those suspicions. That led to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol after Trump’s defeat. Some Californians worry about what could happen in their state now. “This is going to be the second election in a row where there are going to be aggressive, emotional charges of voter fraud,” said Mindy Romero, director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at the University of Southern California. “I cannot see a positive out of it.” NO OFF-RAMP FOR CALIFORNIA GOP The recall offered California Republicans their only plausible shot at statewide office in one […]

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