Recent polls are showing that California Gov. Gavin Newsom is in far less danger of being recalled than he was just a month ago, and California Republican operatives are telling the Washington Examiner that talk-show host Larry Elder bears much of the blame.
Rob Stutzman, a GOP operative in Sacramento, tells the Examiner that Elder's penchant for making controversial statements helped Newsom change the race away from being a referendum on his governorship and into a choice between a Democratic governor and a Trump-loving Republican.
"Newsom has successfully framed the race as him versus Elder, and Democratic voters are responding by voting," he said. "Elder has no appeal outside of GOP voters."
An unnamed Republican consultant similarly fumed to the Examiner that Elder's emergence as GOP frontrunner completely changed the course of the campaign.
"Before Elder, the race was all about Gavin, and our polls were looking very good," they explained. "If the election had been four or more weeks ago, we would have won."
Elder last week gave Newsom some last-minute campaign material when he boasted to right-wing radio host Mark Levin that he would replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) with a Republican if she died while he was governor.
"Nobody's seen her in weeks," said Elder. "I'm told it's an even worse mental condition than Joe Biden ... They're afraid I'm going to replace her with a Republican — which I most certainly would do and that would be an earthquake in Washington D.C."
