Republican candidate Larry Elder conceded to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California late Tuesday while telling his supporters to “stay tuned.”
Elder said “we may have lost the battle, but we are going to win the war,” according to the Associated Press. Newsom sailed to victory, securing nearly 64% of the vote through Wednesday morning.
Just one-third of voters chose to recall Newsom, and of those who voted to recall, almost 50% selected Elder to replace Newsom. These results were quite different from polling predictions just one month ago when Newsom led the recall by just 0.2%.
While Elder urged his supporters to be “gracious in defeat,” he said that his campaign was successful in shifting attention onto issues plaguing the state.
“We are forcing them now to pay attention to the problem of homelessness,” he said. “We are forcing them now to do a better job on schools.”
Elder also described his campaign as a unifying force, the AP noted. “I’m a uniter,” he said. “We are going to bring this country together.”
Newsom tweeted early Wednesday that his victory represented a win for science, women’s and immigrants’ rights, the environment and more.
“Now, let’s get back to work,” he added.
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