Last updated results: Sept. 15, 2021, 1:45 p.m. EDT
Sacramento, Sept.15 (DDP.net).– As of 7:30 a.m. this Wednesday, September 15, the registrars in Los Angeles and Orange counties had reported all the vote-by-mail and in-person votes that came in before Election Day and started to tally day-of voting. In L.A. County, voters defeated the recall by 70.8% to 29.1%; in Orange County, voters defeated the recall by 52.6% to 47.4%. California voters, who started casting ballots weeks ago, were asked two questions: Do you want to recall Newsom? And if the governor is recalled, who should replace him? (See chart)
California voters favored Gov. Newson in this referendum, rejecting the recall by 63.9% negative vote, as shown in the chart above. The Yes vote only won in northern and eastern less populated counties. But the No vote won by a large margin in all big cities.
As expected, radio personality Larry Elder, a Republican, led the pack of alternatives to Newsom. Shortly after 10 p.m., he addressed supporters in Orange County and when they booed at the mention of Newsom's name, Elder said, "Let's be gracious in defeat." It was a surprising concession given that in recent days, he intimated he would challenge what he said would be a fraudulent election.
But Elder also said, "We may have lost the battle, but we will win the war," suggesting he will run for governor in the 2022 election.
Republicans had criticized Newsom for the state’s homelessness and housing issues but in the past weeks targeted his efforts to blunt the pandemic too.