California Governor Gavin Newsom, along with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, has faced widespread criticism over his handling of the catastrophic wildfires ravaging the state. He is facing mounting scrutiny over wildfire preparedness and resource management, with critics pointing to issues such as vegetation control, water supply strategies, and fire department funding. The backlash has fueled speculation of a potential recall effort, as political opponents move to capitalize on public frustration. Newsweek writers weigh in on whether the prominent Democrat should face recall.
Darvio Morrow—Yes
Over 10,000 buildings in Pacific Palisades have been destroyed. 95 percent of the neighborhood is gone. It is unacceptable in the 21st century for the richest state in the richest nation on earth to allow that level of devastation. And make no mistake, it was allowed. The sheer incompetence of every elected official involved is a disgrace. It will take years to rebuild. Altadena, a place that historically had Black working class residents, has already seen its Black population drop in recent years. Now, the neighborhood, one of the few affordable ones left in California, is under a threat of gentrification before the smoke has even cleared. This is one of the most legitimate reasons to recall a governor that I have ever seen. For sheer incompetence alone, Gavin Newsom should go.
Darvio Morrow is CEO of The FCB Radio Network and co-host of The Outlaws Radio Show
Doug Gordon - No
Deadly and costly wildfires existed before Gavin Newsom became Governor of California and they will exist long after his term ends. In fact, all available science says they will get worse due to the climate crisis. But as is often the case, many do not want to let facts get in the way of a good political argument. The push by Republicans to scapegoat Gavin Newsom has nothing to do with the fires – or his response. It is about two things; one, for the first time ever they want to make disaster relief come with conditions and blaming Newsom serves a convenient crutch for their diabolical plan. Second, Republicans view Newsom as a viable 2028 candidate, and they want to take him out before he can even start his campaign. What the people of Los Angeles - many who have lost everything - need is help and relief, not more political games.
Doug Gordon is a Democratic strategist and cofounder of UpShift Strategies
Eric Schmeltzer - No
As sure as traffic on the 405, here come Republicans again, looking to make a grift off another recall campaign against a Democrat. The colossal waste of time and money fills the coffers of the consultants and organizers and forces elected officials to take time away from their jobs to campaign when they ought not to have to campaign. It's a lose-lose for everyone involved – except said consultants. Once again, Gavin Newsom may have to campaign on his way to defeating the effort easily, instead of being 100 percent focused on rebuilding the Los Angeles area and continuing to handle the fifth largest economy on the planet. Meanwhile, Southern California's climate continues to ping-pong between unseasonably wet conditions, which grow vegetation and unseasonably dry conditions which dry all that out into fire fuel. Rather than address the real force multiplier behind this latest fire, and avoid a climate apocalypse, Republicans would rather make a quick buck off a recall gimmick. No wonder they barely win elections in the Golden State anymore.
Eric Schmeltzer is a Los Angeles-based political consultant
Aron Solomon—No
From where I sit, Gov. Newsom shouldn't face a recall over his response to the tragedy that is the ongoing Los Angeles fires. For any governor to face a recall based on the omnipresent challenges of managing such a large-scale disaster seems unfair. From both a legal and political perspective, a recall here would undermine the democratic process and distract from real solutions. We should instead invest our energies on providing resources for far better future preparedness, sustainable firefighting efforts, and long-term environmental planning.
Aron Solomon is a legal analyst
Jonathan S. Tobin—Yes
The concept of governing by plebiscites can be disruptive and a waste of time and money. But in California, which has become a one-party state dominated by Democrats, recalls provide a useful outlet for voters who are often left without viable alternatives to liberal orthodoxy or incompetent partisans on Election Day. That's why the failure of the state's government to deal with a disaster on the scale of the wildfires that have ravaged Southern California makes Newsom has become the poster-child for the need for recalls. Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have tried to blame what has happened on forces beyond their control like global warming. But their lack of planning and bad decisions on funding fire prevention as well as on water and land management issues, not to mention their calamitous attempts at crisis management undermined the effort to contain the fires. If democracy means anything, it means holding politicians accountable for their misdeeds and failures. The fires may be a natural disaster but responsibility for the way this catastrophe unfolded and caused unprecedented damage and suffering belongs to them. If they don't deserve to be recalled and thrown out of office over this, Californians might as well just give up on the concept.
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS.org
Michael Tracey—No
The last time Gavin Newsom faced a recall, California Republicans managed to muster as an alternative the middling media personality Larry Elder, and despite Newsom's manifest liabilities -- like an infamous social outing to the "French Laundry" restaurant during COVID restrictions -- "Yes" on recall only managed to secure 38% of the vote. In the 2024 presidential election, California trended nine points more Republican than 2020—bigger partisan swing than Texas. Conditions are potentially ripe for the state to elect a Republican governor for the first time since 2006, but the reliably farcical nature of the California GOP could prove to be a nagging impediment. Recalling Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass may be a better bet; municipal elections are technically non-partisan, and not even the shrewdest consultant could likely furnish Bass with a passable answer as to why she was carousing in Ghana when the fires broke out.
Michael Tracey is an independent reporter
Arick Wierson—No
Efforts by far-right California extremists to use the tragedy of the Los Angeles area wildfires to recall the state's governor, Gavin Newsom, will surely backfire. The organizers of the "Saving California" movement that is hoping to unseat the popular governor were, by their own admission, already planning to launch a recall effort well before the fires broke out. (The group's leader tried and failed to oust Newsom once before, in 2021.) This group of self-styled MAGA-acolytes is needlessly politicizing an immense human and economic tragedy at a time when local, state, and federal authorities need to be working in lock-step to bring the fires under control. Although frustrations with some aspects of the tactical response are warranted, most Californians are well aware of what the science is telling us: that rising global temperatures are making problems like wildfires quantifiably worse, and that more aggressive climate-fighting policies—just like the ones Newsom has championed for many years—are the real solution.
Arick Wierson is a six-time Emmy award-winning television producer
Matt Robinson—No
Recalling Governor Newsom is a recurring fever dream of right-wing California gadfly Randy Economy, who admitted to Newsweek that he had long-planned another recall effort after getting booted off his last one. He is now cynically using LA's suffering: investigations by the New York Times and Washington Post show that the biggest problems that worsened the damage—decades-old building decisions, residents ignoring mandates to clear vegetation, and a municipal water system never designed for this—have nothing to do with the governor. Economy's last recall was a failed stunt that cost taxpayers half a billion dollars. The people of LA could surely use that money for rebuilding instead of more partisan politics.
Matt Robison is a writer, podcast host, and former congressional staffer