'Eat Your Heart Out': Gov. Gavin Newsom Touts California Comeback Plan In Visit To Southland
EL SERENO (CBSLA) — Gov. Gavin Newsom Tuesday made a stop in the Southland where he was joined by state and local leaders to talk up his California Comeback Plan — a $100 billion budget that seeks to provide relief to those in need and tackle major state challenges.
"For those that have counted California out, eat your heart out," Newsom said after receiving a warm welcome from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Newsom appeared at the Barrio Action Youth and Family Center to symbolically sign the state's budget at just one of many stops he has made throughout the state as his Sept. 14 recall election looms to highlight California's recovery as the pandemic has shown signs of fading.
"No state in America is creating more jobs than the state of California," he said. "No state in America has a faster growing [gross domestic product] than the state of California. No state in America is growing factory jobs, manufacturing jobs like the state of California."
As for what's in the budget, there is $12 billion for stimulus payments, $12 billion to battle the state's growing homelessness crisis and $5.2 billion for rental assistance.
"We will pay 100% of your back rent to April of last year, and we'll pay for going forward through Sept. 30," Newsom said.
But while Newsom was spotlighting the state's recovery — yet another opponent joined the race to replace him in the recall.
Conservative talk show host Larry Elder officially threw his hat in the ring in a campaign rally where he blasted Newsom on a range of issues as a crowd of supporters cheered.
"Gov. Newsom should be nervous," Elder said. "I'm going to take his job. He's got to go down. Crime, homelessness, the outrageous cost of living, gas tax, the way he shut down the government while ignoring the very mandates that he put down, at that French Laundry."
According to recent polls, Newsom appears to be in a strong position, though he did suffer a slight setback Monday when a judge ruled he could not make a change to the ballot to show that he is running as a Democrat.
"It's important for us to remember that Gov. Newsom did, in fact, miss the deadline," Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Law School professor and political analyst, said. "The secretary of state said, 'I'm not accepting that,' and that a lot of judges don't actually like getting involved in these political spats."
And while Levinson said it was not a major setback, Newsom slammed the judge — who was at one point nominated by former President Donald Trump to serve on a federal court — when asked about the ruling.
"Consider the judge," Newsom said. "It wasn't a surprise at all."
The next two months are expected to be volatile and unpredictable, but Newsom seems determined to stay on the offensive.
"We're going to defeat this Republican-backed recall whose principal proponent wants to microchip immigrants," he said. "We'll defeat it, but we're also focused on what really matters to people and that's focusing on schools and small business."
More information about the state's COVID-19 financial assistance programs can be found on the state's website.
