Morning Brief: Newsom Wins, Looking To 2022, And LA’s Tiki History

Good morning, L.A. It’s Sept. 15.

We’re working hard to make sure you have the most current updates about the recall election and its implications for L.A and California. If you’ve relied on our work during this time or at other critical moments, we’re asking you to make a donation to support what we do.

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And now, back to the news…

Gov. Gavin Newsom has defeated an attempt to recall him from office.

Polls in California closed last night at 8 p.m. By 9:30 p.m., the election was called in Newsom’s favor by the AP, CNN and NBC. At that time, 7.4 million mail-in ballots had been counted, and the “no” vote was ahead of the “yes” vote 68% to 32%.

In Southern California, L.A. County residents voted against the recall 73.6% to 26.4%. Orange County residents also chose to keep Newsom in office 57.9% to 42.1%.

Larry Elder, the leading candidate to replace Newsom, conceded and admonished his OC supporters to be “gracious in defeat.”

However, Elder has indicated that he will run for governor again in 2022. In a radio interview yesterday with the Fresno show KMJ Now, Elder said, “I have now become a political force here in California in general and particularly within the Republican party, and I’m not going to leave the stage.”

That would leave the door open for Democrats to continue their now-proven strategy of drilling home for voters who the alternative to Newsom would be.

“From branding it the ‘Republican recall’ to talking a lot about Larry Elder and all the other candidates’ opposition to vaccine mandates and mask mandates, we’re trying to show what’s behind door number two,” Newsom campaign spokesperson Nathan Click told CalMatters. “We were telling the story of what would happen and who the other guys were, and I think that’s really powerful.”

Keep reading for more on what’s happening in L.A., and stay safe out there.

What Else You Need To Know Today

• Campaigning for the 2022 California governor’s race will likely begin now.
• A final tally of votes in the recall election could still take a while.
• Joe Biden came to Long Beach to stump for Gavin Newsom on the eve of the recall election.
• About 11% of people working for the city of L.A. want a medical or religious exemption from the municipal COVID-19 vaccination mandate.
• A final report confirms that members of the LAPD bomb squad overloaded a containment vessel with fireworks, causing a massive explosion in a residential area.
• California's poverty rate fell during the pandemic despite massive unemployment, indicating that federal pandemic relief worked.
• Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said he would refuse to enforce any vaccine mandate for his department, and made a series of comments that were either false or misleading.

Before You Go ... How Chinese Restaurants Shaped LA's Tiki Culture

Mai Tais at the Tiki-Ti on Sunset Blvd.

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Sam Howzit

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Flickr Creative Commons)

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When Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt opened Don's Beachcomber in Hollywood in 1933, he couldn’t have known how influential it would become. The cheerful, hut-like establishment was filled with stolen shipyard paraphernalia and bottles of spiced rum, and within years, Beaumont-Gantt became the godfather of tiki.