(Headline USA) California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom‘s string of controversial policies have landed him in hot water with voters, but recent campaign finance data shows Big Tech companies may be coming to his rescue.
Silicon Valley, home for many major tech companies, of course resides in California, and it seems the tech leaders want to keep their state blue.
From Open Secrets:
One of Newsom’s top donors in his recall fight is Netflix CEO Reed Hastings who donated $3 million in May to a group protesting the recall. Hastings also donated thousands to the Democratic federal super PAC, Senate Majority PAC, in 2020 and is the largest donor in the California recall campaign.
Newsom has been able to tap into California’s tech industry where several big names — including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman — have spoken out against recall efforts,” Open Secrets reports.
Netflix has its headquarters in Los Gatos, California and Google hosts its HQ in the same state in a town called Mountain View. LinkedIn has set up its HQ in the nearby Sunnyvale, California.
The donations came after Newsom created specific COVID protections for Netflix and others in the production industry, allowing them to be called “protected industries” during COVID lockdowns.
It’s also worth noting that when Newsom fell into scandal for attending the ritzy French Laundry during lockdowns in his home state, he was meeting with one of Netflix’s lobbyists, Jason Kinney.
Newsom has also fought lback criticism in recent days because his wife accepted $800,000 in donations to her nonprofit from large companies that lobbied the governor’s office.
Democrats announced Thursday that the state of California would foot the bill for the $215 million recall election, allowing the race to be held earlier in the year.
“Our local communities don’t deserve to be saddled with unnecessary recall costs as they work to recover from the pandemic,” Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said in a joint statement. “The Legislature will lift the burden from their plate and include $215 million in the budget bill to have the state cover the costs. In addition, this funding will allow for an earlier recall election. By providing counties with the funding they need, we can waive the required period for the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to review the election costs.”
