Some of the recall’s largest backers also funded Trump’s 2020 campaign. These include Beverly Hills real estate developer Geoff Palmer, who spent $ 150,000 on the anti-Newsom campaign, and Silicon Valley venture capitalist Douglas Leone, who, along with his wife Patricia Perkins-Leone, gave nearly $ 100,000. Retired construction equipment manager Howard Groff and his wife Susan Groff paid out $ 75,000.
And while most donors so far are from California, Trump’s fundraisers report that the interest of major donors from far and wide has increased.
“Donors in California and across the country are starting to turn their attention to the California recalls,” said Caroline Wren, who was one of the biggest fundraisers in Trump’s reelection campaign.
Overall fundraising pale in comparison to the massive sums raised by many candidates and party committees during the 2020 election. But the money has caught the attention of Newsom and the Democrats, and it is becoming increasingly clear that organizers are raising enough to support the recall. a good chance of collecting the petitions needed to qualify for the vote. That would force the first recall from a sitting California governor since 2003, when voters expelled Democrat Gray Davis from office.
The cash influx underscores how energy continues to flow through Republican donor circles following Trump’s defeat, with many looking for an outlet to keep fighting Democrats. Major donors are usually bugged after a presidential game, but some dive right back into the recall, which could become the big election of 2021.
Bill White, a Georgia-based business development executive who raised nearly $ 5 million for Trump’s 2020 campaign, said he had encouraged California donors to get involved. White predicted that more contributors would participate if the recall qualifies for the vote, which would allow Republican candidates to flee to replace Newsom later this year.
“There is definitely money going into it, and if it hits that next threshold, you’re going to see a lot of support for a potential candidate,” White said.
It’s not just mega donors opening their wallets. Anne Dunsmore, a seasoned GOP fundraiser helping to take the initiative, said in an email to donors Thursday that her organization, Recall California, had raised more than $ 400,000 via direct mail from more than 11,000 small donors. The average donation from those givers, she said, was $ 37.
National groups with a lot of money are also involved.
The Republican Governors Association has been following the recall – but in view of possible investment in a recall election, rather than contributing to the signatures meeting. The group, which is closely associated with the party’s donor class, has been in contact with people close to the petition and has spoken with several potential candidates. The RGA recently commissioned a survey of 1,200 people from an upcoming race conducted by Bill McInturff, an pollster involved in the 2003 recall.
Organizers must submit nearly 1.5 million valid signatures to the California Secretary of State’s office by March 17 to be eligible for the vote. Recall leaders say they will have collected 1.4 million signatures by the end of this week. They have set a target of submitting 1.8 million signatures to give themselves a buffer in case some are deemed invalid by election officials.
As contributors gain more interest, organizers are moving to capitalization. Dunsmore said in her email that a group of Silicon Valley donors are at the forefront of funding professional signature collectors to meet the mid-March deadline. The group of contributors includes investor David Sacks, a former Newsom financier who has recently become an outspoken critic.
The largest donor to the recall is John Kruger, an under-the-radar Orange County investor who contributed $ 500,000 in December. Kruger has objected to Newsom’s decision to limit the size of religious gatherings as a means of stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
Another significant role is San Francisco venture capitalist Dixon Doll, who has been active in Republican circles for years and has spent tens of thousands of dollars to support former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s failed 2016 presidential campaign. Doll and his wife, Carol, together gave nearly $ 100,000 to the anti-Newsom push.
Former GOP representative in California Doug Ose, a wealthy real estate developer who also plans to contribute, said he was struck by the number of people who contacted him about the drive to oust Newsom.
“My phone has blown up since yesterday,” said Ose. “I don’t know the magic sauce to make something viral, but it’s clearly gaining more and more in the state, that’s for sure.”
Political observers in California say there will likely be a recall in late August or early September. The vote would include two questions: an up-or-down vote on whether Newsom should be removed from office, and then a decision on which candidate to replace him. If a majority approves a recall, the candidate with the highest voting share in the second question becomes governor.
When the recall gets to the vote, Republicans admit they need to rely on big donors to fire Newsom. Running TV ads in the massive state is a costly affair, and California has become more democratic since 2003. And despite its declining poll numbers, Newsom already has more than $ 20 million in its campaign account and would be able to build a massive statewide donor network that fueled its political rise.
The list of candidates in front of him can get huge, if recent history is a guide. More than 100 candidates ran to succeed Davis in the 2003 recall, listing everyone from actor Gary Coleman to porn star Mary Carey. More than 55 percent of voters were in favor of Davis’s recall, handing the win to top vote-getter, professional bodybuilder and Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger.
With another recall looking increasingly like a real possibility, major Trump donors from around the country are starting to weigh in on their preferred candidate for a Newsom replacement. Many of them have contacted Richard Grenell, a Southern California resident and acting director of the president’s national intelligence agency, to encourage him to participate in the race.
Hossein Khorram, a Washington state real estate developer who donated more than $ 100,000 to pro-Trump causes in the 2020 election, said in a text that California had turned into a “ welfare state ” under Newsom and that “ raising money for Governor Grenell would be an exciting experience that I wouldn’t miss for any reason. “
White, who staged a Trump fundraiser with Grenell during the election, predicted that the former Trump administration official would receive widespread financial backing from the former president’s backers if he eventually decided to enter the race.
“If Ric were the candidate, we would be 100 percent behind him, we would do everything we could to help him and save California,” White said.
But while Trump donors yearn for Grenell, some California Republicans worry that anyone closely associated with Trump will lower their prospects in a state where the former president barely got a third of the vote.
Meanwhile, other candidates are starting to attract attention within the state. Former San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer and wealthy businessman John Cox, who lost by a wide margin to Newsom in the 2018 election, have each announced their intention to run. Ose has said he is also considering a bid.
Whoever ends up running, there probably won’t be a lack of funding. Ose noted that the election would be one of the few major races in the country this year, so it will receive a lot of attention.
“I think the prospect of a recall is of national importance to both parties and to any number of outside players,” said Ose. “So I don’t think there will be a shortage of money on either side as to whether Newsom should be recalled.”