COSTA MESA -- As the numbers came in showing that Gov. Gavin Newsom had beaten back the recall, some at Larry Elder's headquarters became despondent, others remained optimistic and the candidate himself dropped hints about his future.
The mix of feelings alludes to the state Republican party's lack of cohesion. And though Elder received the most votes of any Republican challenger, the recall’s failure invites the question of what comes next for California’s GOP.
Elder tried to reassure his supporters that the fight was not over even as the preliminary results left little doubt about the election’s outcome.
“As you know, my opponent, Governor Gavin Newsom,” said Elder before he was interrupted with loud booing from the crowd. “Come on, let’s be gracious. Let’s be gracious in defeat. And, by the way, we may have lost the battle, but we are going to win the war,” he said.
Elder said the election, despite its results, will force Newsom to deal with issues like homelessness, crime and tax reform.
Those at the headquarters were evenly split about the future with half thinking that the GOP will have to work to find a challenger who can beat Newsom and the other half rooting for a Newsom-Elder matchup in 2022.
One woman at Elder’s campaign headquarters said the election results were the last straw for the state.
“I think it all helps us make the decision to leave California more quickly,” said an Elder supporter. I think we’re lost, we’re sunk. There’s no hope for this state,” she added.
According to the Washington Post, the latest results, 63.9 percent against the recall to 36.1 percent supporting the effort, "mark one of the biggest repudiations of a recall effort in the last 100 years."
Conservative writer Jonah Goldberg elaborated on the Republican party's problems in California on Twitter.
“If the California GOP were a strong & serious party it would’ve worked to clear field of the rabble & rabble-rousers and put all its weight behind a competent & conventional candidate like [former San Diego mayor Kevin] Faulconer,” Goldberg wrote. “Would’ve kept Newsom the issue and laid foundation for rebuilding GOP.”
Carla Marinucci of the California Politico Playbook said even though Elder received the most votes of any Republican by a large margin some of the other candidates could have a shot in next year's governor's race, especially Faulconer.
“I think the Faulconer people can make the case that Trump and Trump-like policies were badly thumped in this recall election and that’s going to make for some interesting politics on the Republican side going forward,” Marinucci told KNX.
Faulconer is widely seen as a moderate Republican. John Cox, who ran against Newsom in 2018, failed again to resonate with voters, according to Marinucci. She said she is unsure what Cox will do next.
The recall saw some Republicans float unfounded claims of voter fraud, including Elder. His campaign promoted a website urging people to sign a petition that declared Newsom won because of voter fraud but that language was removed from the website by Tuesday afternoon.
Though the claims of fraud were not borne out, there were a handful of reported problems with voting. The Los Angeles County Registrar said a poll worker at a West Hollywood voting site was removed for wearing a pro-Trump t-shirt. A polling center in Tulare County was closed because of a wildfire.
But Republican strategist Jason Cable-Roe told CBS Sacramento voter fraud claims don't help the party.
“The problem is if we are going to rebuild a conservative coalition that can be a permanent or semi-permanent majority in this country, we’ve got to sound like we’re rational human beings that are not conspiracy theorists,” he said.
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