California Recall: Exit poll hints Californians back Newsom’s COVID policies

Exit polls of California Governor Gavin Newsom’s recall election show that about 45% of residents of the state agree with the policies set forth to tackle COVID-19, according to US media reports.

However, nearly 33% of Californians also believe that the COVID policy set by Newsom were too strict. The remaining fall into the category of believing that state directives should have been tougher, CNN exit poll shows.

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COVID-19 vaccinations also, according to the poll, seem to be a point of contention between those who associate themselves with the Democratic party, or rivals the Republican party.

While most Republican voters see vaccination as a personal choice, Democrats, on the flip side, say that it is a public health responsibility for all. Nearly 60% of the voters resonate with the latter.

Californian voters, who are up for deciding the political fate of incumbent Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday, think that the basis for people deciding their vote depends on how the authorities responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.

About one-third of the voters said that COVID-19 is the biggest issue for the state, according to reports from CNN citing an exit poll conducted by Edison Research.

COVID-19 is followed by homelessness with just over one in five considering it the biggest issue. One in six voters are of the opinion that the economy is the biggest point of contention.

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Wildfires, that have devastated parts of the state in recent months, also get the same number of votes as the economy. Slightly under one-tenth of Californians consider crime as the biggest issue.

“I’m feeling good, as long as we can get out that vote,” Newsom said after greeting volunteers in San Francisco hours before the polls closed, according to reports from Associated Press.

A recall election has a less predictable dynamic than a regular election, he said.

“They designed this to catch us while we’re sleeping,” Newsom said. “But I think you’ve seen in the early voting Democrats have been coming out strong, and I’m just humbled by that.”