Kamala Harris links Gavin Newsom recall to new Republican abortion, voting laws

Vice President Kamala Harris contrasted Gov. Gavin Newsom with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at a campaign appearance Wednesday in San Leandro, highlighting Newsom’s support of abortion rights and other progressive positions as he tries to fend off a recall challenge.

In her speech at a union training center, Harris said Abbott rudely dismissed the concerns of women in the wake of a restrictive new abortion ban taking effect in his state that doesn’t provide exemptions in cases of rape.

“To arrogantly dismiss concerns about rape survivors… that is not who we want in our leaders,” Harris said. “We want in our leaders someone like Gavin Newsom who always speaks the truth on behalf of all the people.”

Harris’ mention of the Texas abortion ban Abbott signed reflects a focus on reproductive rights that Newsom and his campaign have promoted in recent days, seeking to motivate liberal voters to cast their ballots against the recall.

Newsom, too, connected the recall to national politics. He contrasted his positions to those of Larry Elder, the conservative talk radio host who is the top-polling candidate seeking to replace Newsom in the recall.

Newsom noted that Elder opposes the minimum wage and abortion.

“What kind of judges would Larry Elder appoint?” Newsom asked, suggesting Elder appointees could dismantle policies favored by California Democratic voters.

Harris’ visit to the Bay Area, where she grew up and built her political career, reflects Newsom’s strategy to appeal to his Democratic base with popular liberal surrogates.

He campaigned with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren over the weekend and has been running an anti-recall ad featuring Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Early next week, President Joe Biden plans to travel to California to campaign for Newsom, too.

Harris also highlighted Newsom’s COVID-19 policies, another central focus of his campaign, saying he “led with courage” during the early days of the pandemic in locking down his state ahead of the rest of the country to limit spread of the coronavirus.

A mix of Newsom supporters and union members attended the rally.

Kathryn Lybarger, president of the union that represents blue collar University of California employees, said campaign events like the Harris rally are important to raise awareness of the recall for voters like Rosado.

“It has huge consequences for all of us including folks like Jose, the people who don’t know everything that this is about,” said Lybarger of AFSCME 3299. “This is a consequential election for working people, and if we lose this governor to any of the alternatives, we will see the progress we fought for and made for working families rolled backwards.”

Another AFSME 3299 member, Ana Shul, said she voted two weeks ago and has been phone banking for Newsom’s campaign. She simply marked “no” on the recall and didn’t fill out the second question, which presents voters with a list of replacement candidates if Newsom is recalled. She said she thinks the alternatives aren’t supportive of organized labor.

“We don’t need an anti-union person,” she said while waiting for the event to start. “Gavin Newsom has been with us all the time.”

Gavin Newsom’s advantage in California

In California, Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly two-to-one. Democrats constitute about 47% of registered voters, while Republicans make up 24% and voters without party preference 23%.

Those numbers favor Newsom, but conservative enthusiasm for the recall and liberal apathy about the election have put the governor in a tight spot, pushing his campaign to focus on turning out his base of liberal voters. For most of August, polls showed the race essentially neck and neck, although surveys in the last couple of weeks have shifted in favor of Newsom.

Harris said the recall in California has national implications as she referenced new Republican-backed voting measures in Texas and Georgia that Democrats fear will tamp down turnout in future elections.

“They think if they can win in California they can do this anywhere,” she said.

Republicans criticize campaign stop

Harris was scheduled to campaign for Newsom last month, but canceled that planned appearance at the Cow Palace in Daly City after a deadly bombing in Kabul as the Biden administration raced to evacuate people from Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban taking control of the country.

Outside the event, a handful of protesters waving Afghanistan flags chanted “please free Afghanistan, no to the Taliban.”

California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson criticized Harris’ presence at the rally, arguing she should have been working on the situation in Afghanistan instead.

“It is both pathetic and telling that Vice President Harris and Governor Newsom think political campaigning is a better use of time today than working to rescue the California children and families, Americans and allies who were abandoned in Afghanistan by the Biden Administration,” Patterson wrote in a statement. “One thing Harris and Newsom have in common is that they have utterly failed those they were elected to serve, and voters won’t forget it.”

This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 5:16 PM with the headline "Kamala Harris links Gavin Newsom recall to new Republican abortion, voting laws."