Harris to campaign for Newsom in California next week

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Gutfeld: Larry Elder vs. Gavin Newsom over California's recall

'Gutfeld!' panel discusses the issues that face the Golden State

Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign for California Gov. Gavin Newsom next week as his recall election looms two weeks away. 

"Yes," Harris told the San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday when asked if she would travel to her home state to campaign for Newsome, a longtime political ally of hers.

GAVIN NEWSOM RECALL ELECTION: MORE THAN A FIFTH OF CALIFORNIA VOTERS HAVE CAST BALLOTS SO FAR

Harris had been set to campaign for Newsom last month but the rally was cancelled following a terrorist suicide bombing in Afghanistan that killed 13 U.S. service members. 

The White House has said that President Biden will campaign for Newsom as well but a date has not been officially scheduled. 

California voters will mail in or cast their ballot in person by September 14 and answer a "yes" or "no" question as to whether or not Newsom should be removed as governor. If more than 50% of voters say "yes", the top vote-getter in a crowded field of challengers will be the state’s new governor. 

The recall effort was sparked by public outrage over Newsom being spotted defying his own coronavirus restrictions at a large unmasked dinner in an upscale restaurant. Newsom’s troubles have been exacerbated by an exploding homeless crisis, high taxes, and a rise in violent crime. 

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California's Secretary of State's office reports that 21% of registered voters in the Golden State have cast ballots in the recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

State election officials in the middle of last month began mailing ballots to California’s 22 million registered voters as the Republican replacement candidates stepped up their attacks on the governor and Newsom kicked into high gear his efforts to encourage supporters to vote. 

While Democrats greatly outnumber Republicans in the heavily blue state of California, public opinion polls conducted this summer suggested that those likely to cast ballots in the contest were divided on whether to recall Newsom.

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Most public opinion polls conducted in July and August indicated that likely voters were divided on whether to recall Newsom. But a new survey taken Aug. 20-29 by the Public Policy Institute of California and released late Wednesday indicates that only 38% of likely voters support removing Newsom, with 58% saying they’d vote no on the first question on the ballot.

Roughly half of likely voters (49%) said they either have not decided or would not vote for any of the 46 replacement candidates on the recall ballot. Among the other half, who expressed a preference for a replacement candidate, conservative talk radio host Larry Elder was in the lead with 26% support. Five percent backed Republican Kevin Faulconer, a former two-term mayor of San Diego. Three percent supported both 2018 GOP gubernatorial nominee and businessman John Cox and state lawmaker Kevin Kiley, with 1976 Olympic gold-medal-winning decathlete turned transgender rights activist and nationally known TV personality Caitlyn Jenner at just 1%.

Democrats have recently ramped up attacks on Elder, attempting to link his candidacy to former President Trump. 

Newsom slammed Elder in a fundraising email last month, saying that Elder and Trump are one and the same. 

"If this guy is governor during delta it would lead to extraordinary suffering," Newsom claimed in the email. "His anti-science approach would move our planet backward in the race against a changing climate. He would be a disaster for California."

The email also referred to Elder as "Larry Trump."

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Houston Keene contributed to this report