We have just one shot to put California on a better path, restore checks and balances to our state government, and put an end to one party rule in our state.
Gavin Newsom’s inept response to the pandemic and its economic consequences led everyday Californians to step forward, exercising their rights under the state constitution to trigger a recall election this fall.
Kevin Faulconer, the Republican former mayor of San Diego, is the one Republican candidate who can make this recall effort a success.
There is little margin for error in the campaign now underway to elect new leadership in our state: California’s partisan makeup favors the incumbent much more than was the case when we recalled Gov. Gray Davis (D) in 2003.
That’s why I’m strongly supporting Kevin Faulconer, who has solid Republican and reform credentials, while demonstrating repeatedly he can win in jurisdictions favoring the other party. No other candidate for governor can meet this test.
No doubt in the coming weeks we will hear all kinds of magical arguments from celebrities, failed former candidates, and others longing for a moment of stardom by putting their names on the recall ballot. But no candidate – none – can match Faulconer’s record of winning tough races while putting solid, new ideas into action.
Many of our fellow Californians are not yet familiar with Faulconer’s outstanding accomplishments stopping major tax increases, reforming city government to make it work for citizens again, and bringing the city’s homeless population way down.
As big city politicians around the country were busy with campaigns to “defund the police” while allowing homelessness to spiral out of control, Faulconer did the opposite – he increased police funding while launching a highly effective campaign to fight homelessness. San Diego became the only major city in California to bring the homeless population down. Under Faulconer’s leadership, there was little tolerance for the kind of encampments on streets, sidewalks and other public places we see in other cities.
I’ve known Kevin Faulconer for many years – and he impressed me by how skillfully he worked to advance meaningful reforms in government while also tenaciously bringing other reform oriented leaders into elected and appointed offices throughout the city.
The upcoming campaign won’t be easy – Gavin Newsom and his political hacks have already targeted Faulconer because they recognize he is the only serious threat to continued left wing dominance of our state government. They know, like we do, that the endless proposals to tax and regulate Californians away will come to a dead stop the moment Kevin Faulconer is sworn in as governor and holds that veto pen.
The magical thinking of other would-be candidates in the coming recall election will make for stories that range from the wildly entertaining to the incredibly dull. Ultimately, the future of California is at stake and we each carry the power to choose whether the election triggered by the good people of our state will give California the new direction it needs with a proven, powerful leader like Kevin Faulconer, or condemn the Golden State to more years of mediocrity and decline.
I encourage every Republican, independent and Democrat who wants a brighter future for our state to join me in supporting Kevin Faulconer for governor.
Ron Nehring served as Chairman of the California Republican Party from 2007 to 2011. He is serving as Senior Advisor to Kevin Faulconer for Governor.