Newsom says recall rejection shows voters 'said yes to' science, diversity, and economic justice

With California delivering a decisive rejection of the recall effort against him, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday night said he was "humbled and grateful" for the support of "millions of Californians who exercised their fundamental right to vote."

About 45 minutes after the polls closed and as the mail-in ballot results were announced, several news networks called the election in favor of Newsom; with 62 percent of the expected statewide results reported, 67 percent voted "no" to removing Newsom from office, while 33 percent voted "yes."

Speaking to supporters in Sacramento, Newsom said that "no is not the only thing expressed tonight. I want to focus on what we said yes to as a state. We said yes to science, we said yes to vaccines, we said yes to ending this pandemic. We said yes to people's right to vote without fear of fake fraud or voter suppression. We said yes to women's fundamental, constitutional right to decide for herself what she does with her body, her fate, her future."

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"We said yes to diversity, we said yes to inclusion, we said yes to pluralism, we said yes to all those things that we hold dear as Californians and I would argue as Americans," Newsom continued. "Economic justice, social justice, racial justice, environmental justice, our values where California has made so much progress. All of those things were on the ballot this evening." He said voters rejected "division, the cynicism, so much of the negativity that's defined our politics in this country over the course of so many years," and called on Californians to "disregard false separateness" and remember that "we have so much more in common" than "we give ourselves credit for."