The California recall was ultimately voted down.

Yesterday, the citizenry of California voted on whether or not to recall the state’s current Governor, Gavin Newsom, and who, if anyone, should take his place. Critics of Newsom’s policies had attempted to recall him before, but his policies regarding the COVID-19 pandemic had drummed up enough backlash to finally put the election through. However, despite the best efforts of Newsom’s opponents, the votes are in, and he will be remaining in office.

An hour prior to the closure of polls, more than two-thirds of the ballots voted “no” on the question of Newsom’s recall, ultimately securing him a solid victory. “‘No’ is not the only thing that was expressed tonight,” the governor said at a Sacramento press conference. “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.

“I’m humbled and grateful to the millions and millions of Americans who exercised their fundamental right to vote and expressed themselves so overwhelmingly by rejecting the division, by rejecting the cynicism, by rejecting so much of the negativity that’s defined our politics in this country,” he added.

One of Newsom’s front-runner rivals was conservative radio host Larry Elder. Elder is an outspoken opponent of, among other things, abortion rights, gun control, mask and vaccine mandates, and the minimum wage. With Elder at the front of the pack, the election became a much more partisan matter, especially in the heavily blue California.

“All of you know last year I got to run against the real Donald Trump. Well, this year, the leading Republican running for governor is the closest thing to a Trump clone that I have ever seen in your state,” President Joe Biden said at a campaign event on Newsom’s behalf. “We defeated Trump last year … but we haven’t defeated Trumpism.”