A majority of California voters said “no” to the recall, Tuesday, and Gavin Newsom will retain his position as governor.

As of this writing, 51% of precincts have been accounted for, with 67% of Californians voting “no” on the recall and 33% voting “yes.”

“We rejected cynicism and bigotry and chose hope and progress,” Newsom said on Twitter after the results. “Thank you, California.”

Republican candidate Larry Elder received the highest percentage of votes from the candidates looking to replace Newsom, with 44%, followed by Democrat Kevin Paffrath with 11%.

“Let’s be gracious in defeat,” Elder said Tuesday night. “We may have lost the battle but we are going to win the war.”

Being a conservative radio host, Elder was one of the most recognizable candidates among the field of 45 and ran under the premise that “it is long overdue for California to return to normalcy” amid the pandemic.

Newsom went on a statewide campaign trail, calling the election a “Republican Recall” and having high profile Democrat backing from senator Bernie Sanders to President Joe Biden, who made his way to California for the first time since being elected president, joining Newsom at a Long Beach rally.

“This year, the leading Republican running for governor is the closest thing to a Trump clone that I’ve ever seen in your state,” Biden said about Elder at the rally. “He’s the clone of Donald Trump. Can you imagine him being governor of this state? You can’t let that happen. There’s too much at stake.”

Now Newsom will continue to serve the rest of his term, until the next gubernatorial election in 2022.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting Irvine Weekly and our advertisers.