Harris to campaign for Newsom in California next week

Vice President Harris is heading to California next week to campaign for Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in the final weeks of the recall election against him, CNN reported.

“I am excited to join my friend and our Vice President next week,” Newsom said in a statement, according to Politico. “The stakes of this election couldn’t be higher.”

The announcement follows President Biden’s statement last week urging California voters to reject the recall vote.

“Gov. @GavinNewsom is leading California through unprecedented crises—he’s a key partner in fighting the pandemic and helping build our economy back better,” Biden tweeted last week. “To keep him on the job, registered voters should vote no on the recall election by 9/14 and keep California moving forward.”

Although Harris has recently seen decreasing poll numbers, she still has considerable support in her home state and in the Bay Area, where she first launched her political career as a prosecutor, Politico notes.

Newsom is in the midst of a competitive campaign, with a poll earlier this month showing that about half of California voters want the governor recalled in the September election. One of Newsom’s biggest hurdles is a lack of enthusiasm among voters compared to that among his Republican opponents, a reality that his campaign likely hopes Harris’s visit will be able to improve. 

Harris first said in July that she intended to campaign for Newsom.