Recall pending, Faulconer pivots hard against Newsom

His putative runway to state power shortened by an accelerating movement among California conservatives to recall Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, formerly genial Kevin Faulconer is taking off the gloves - sort of - on Twitter.

"It took until the second-to-last day of the year for the governor to say he intends to help schools safely reopen, and he 'pledges to advance' a plan," says a December 30 tweet from the Republican ex-San Diego mayor. "Gov. Newsom, your homework is late — and it's incomplete."

Though Newsom is his ostensible political punching bag, Faulconer is now facing an unanticipated obstacle to his bid for Governor from a host of well-heeled hopefuls on his right, including Newsom's previously vanquished GOP gubernatorial foe, Rancho Santa Fe denizen John Cox.

A Covid-19 victim himself, Cox anted up $50,000 on October 9 for a committee called California Patriot Coalition - Recall Governor Gavin Newsom.

Other significant donations include $60,000 from the California Revival PAC, chaired by Fox News columnist Tom Del Beccaro, and a total of $30,000 from Susan and Howard Groff of Northridge Excavating. Pro gambler Richard Salomon of Las Vegas kicked in $10,000.

Another anti-Newsom effort, called Rescue California - to Support the Recall of Gavin Newsom, is getting support from San Diegans. Shinbashi Restaurant Group of Del Mar came up with $20,000 on December 17, and the Republican Party of San Diego gave $5000 on December 9.

"Japan's traditional culture is often described as a seasonal culture, for so much revolves around the changing of the seasons, and the "sense" of season is highly valued," notes the eatery’s website.

“Our restaurant theme is based on the Izakaya, or Japanese' pub' – a unique and vital cornerstone of Japanese food culture."

Saori Matsumoto of Carlsbad is listed on state filings as the restaurant group’s manager.

The Rescue California committee made news this week when a low-profile Irvine-based consulting firm called Prov 3:9, LLC, gave $500,000.

If the recall succeeds, Newsom would be forced back to the ballot for a statewide up or down vote on whether he can fulfill his term. Further down the same ballot would be the names of would-be successors, including, presumably, Faulconer.

"Voters only need to gather the signatures of 12 percent of voter turnout in the 2018 election – in this case, 1,495,709 signatures," Joshua Spivak, a senior fellow at Wagner College's Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform explained to Politico regarding the recall process.

"California also grants 160 days to gather them. In other states, the signature percentage requirement is more than double and the time to gather is less than half."

Added Politico: "The requirements to get on the ballot for the recall would be 65 to 100 nomination signatures and a filing fee of $4,194.94, or 7,000 signatures in lieu of the filing fee.

"Those minimal requirements have essentially not changed since the recall of Gov. Gray Davis in 2003; back then, 135 candidates made the ballot."

Thus Faulconer, who until the advent of Covid-19 was making a circuit of Republican chicken dinners and other GOP insider gatherings, may find himself buried in a rush of higher-profile contenders, including political outsiders modeled on the example of Arnold Schwarzenberg, who became governor as a result of the Davis recall.

Early this year, Faulconer set up a so-called ballot measure committee, which he calls Rebuilding the California Dream, ostensibly to pitch the mayor's homelessness plans, but widely seen as a funding vehicle for his political staff and travel costs.

State records show the group raised a relatively paltry total of $120,900 through the middle of the year, with the next disclosure due January 31.