Last night, voters overwhelmingly rejected Republicans’ attempt to recall California Governor Gavin Newsom. Californians sent a clear message to the Republican Party that downplaying COVID, Trumpism and peddling conspiracy theories is not the winning strategy Republicans think it is. 

Just a couple months ago national Republicans were braying about their chances in California, pouring money into the state and saying they had a real chance to win. 

Let’s take a trip down memory lane.

Republicans kicked off the recall touting their involvement as a chance to test their ground game and unify the party ahead of 2022.

Politico: “GOP officials say the recall — which has quickly emerged as one of the highest-profile battles of the year — is a prominent cause around which the party can unify in the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections and paper over the civil war between forces aligned with former President Donald Trump and those who want Republicans to distance themselves from him.”

Politico: “RNC officials say their decision to invest in the race will also give them an opportunity to test their volunteer capacity as they begin to prepare for the 2022 midterm elections.”

Republicans made multi-million dollar investments, and touted their “unmatched data-driven ground game.”

Republican National Committee: “‘The California Republican Party has done a tremendous job holding the worst governor in California’s history accountable and the RNC is proud to partner with them,’ RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in the hiring announcement. ‘Our multi-million dollar investment will allow us to hire over 40 staffers, open two APA Community Centers, and employ our unmatched data-driven ground game to recall Gavin Newsom.’”

And up until Election Day, Ronna McDaniel was saying “Gavin Newsom’s time is up” and tried making his strong leadership on combatting COVID a….vulnerability?

Fox News: “RNC Chairwoman McDaniel: Gavin Newsom’s time is up. Californians fed up with master class in failure”