New Poll Shows Latino Voters More Likely To Vote To Recall Newsom In California

A new poll released this week shows that Latino voters are perhaps more likely to vote to recall Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom than other racial groups, as reported by The Sacramento Bee.

According to its website, “Probolsky Research is a non-partisan Latina- and woman-owned firm with corporate, election, government, and non-profit clients. We have no client in this Recall Election.”A Probolsky Research poll showed that 44.5% of Latino/Hispanic voters would vote “yes” to the question, “Shall Gavin Newsom be recalled (removed) from the office of Governor?” 44.1% answered “no” to the question. Around 14% did not say they would vote “yes” or “no.”

“It really just speaks to the current state of affairs of Latinos being disproportionately impacted health-wise and economically by this pandemic,” said Adam Probolsky, president of the firm that conducted the research.

Data from the Public Policy Institute of California showed that a majority of Latino likely voters are registered as Democrats at 58%. Only 16% are registered as Republicans.However, the recent Probolsky poll shows a potential change in direction among Latino voters. A survey conducted by the PPIC in January showed different results and a more favorable view of Newsom. 58% of latinos said they approved of the way that Newsom was “handling his job as governor of California.” A different poll conducted earlier this year by Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies showed that 28% of latinos would vote “yes” to recall the governor.

Probolsky explained the numbers at a virtual press conference, saying, “The governor has higher favorables than unfavorables and the recall would fail if the election was today … We did find some worrying signs of weakness for Newsom, including sizable recall support from Latino voters.”

Probolsky stated the information shows that Latino voters are still able to be reached by the Newsom administration. “While not wildly popular,” Probolsky said, “he is not in the desperately precarious position that I think a lot of people would put him in.”

The Sacramento Bee reports that in California, Latinos make up almost 40% of the state’s population, “but represent about half of the state’s COVID-19 cases and deaths. Latinos have also been among the hardest hit by job losses during the health crisis.”

California GOP Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson denounced Newsom’s decision to eat at the French Laundry restaurant last year while the pandemic was ongoing and Latino communities were faced with many struggles, the outlet reports.

“The Latino community has been devastated by this governor’s incompetence,” she said in a statement. “Latinos are fed up with empty words and double standards.”

“Am I worried about it? Of course I’m worried about it,” Newsom said regarding the recall effort during an appearance on “The View” last week. He added, “The nature of these things, the up or down question, the zero-sum nature of the question is challenging … so we’re taking it seriously.”

The Daily Wire reported last week, “Newsom tweeted a link to a website aimed at stopping the recall attempt. The governor wrote, ‘I won’t be distracted by this partisan, Republican recall — but I will fight it. There is too much at stake. Getting Californians vaccinated, our economy safely reopened, and our kids back in school are simply too important to risk.'”

Counties in California are working to verify the reported over 1.8 million signatures that the recall effort has submitted. They have until April 29 to certify the results.