Recent polling in the California recall election for Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom has the governor and leftists panicking. Due to the Golden State’s recall election system, if the majority votes for ousting Newsom, then the winner of the most votes for replacement becomes the next governor. And the man leading that pack of replacements — and growing his lead — is conservative talk-radio host Larry Elder.

Could California elect a conservative governor?

The panic has officially set in, as Newsom and his Leftmedia allies have targeted Elder with a barrage of nearly fact-free hit pieces against the Republican. The Los Angeles Times has led the way in the anti-Elder smear campaign with stories such as “Larry Elder is the Black Face of White Supremacy. You’ve Been Warned,” and “If Larry Elder is Elected, Life Will Get Harder for Black and Latino Californians.”

Wait, who are the racists, again?

Politico got in on that act with an all-too-common character assassination piece alleging that “Elder’s ex-fiancee said he brandished a gun at her.” Elder flatly denied the story: “I have never brandished a gun at anyone. I grew up in South Central [Los Angeles]; I know exactly how destructive this type of behavior is. It’s not me, and everyone who knows me knows it’s not me. These are salacious allegations.”

The Washington Post tried a different approach, attacking California’s recall system by asserting that it’s a danger to democracy: “The question is whether any of us can accept losing an election anymore, or whether this constant rhetoric about a ‘rigged’ democracy has led us to a place where we are willing to live only with the outcomes we like and immediately set about trying to undo the ones we don’t.” The Post might want to look into the mirror on that question. It worked tirelessly to advance false claims over the entirety of Donald Trump’s presidency — in particular the fantasy that he supposedly colluded with the Russians to defeat Hillary Clinton.

Meanwhile, where are the stories raising the question of why voters in Democrat California, a state as blue as they come, are seriously considering ousting a governor who won election in 2018 with a sizable 62% of the vote. The answer has everything to do with Newsom’s dismal record — a record so bad that voters are considering replacing him with a conservative Republican.

Newsom’s record includes his hypocrisy and authoritarian power grab during the COVID pandemic, but that is far from the only reason. Violent crime has spiked under his watch, as the state has set new records for homicides. Much of this falls on Newsom because of his foolish crime policy, which included closing prisons and releasing hundreds of violent criminals. Then there’s the explosion of homelessness throughout Los Angeles and San Fransisco, much of it due to the housing crisis as overregulation has made new housing construction overly costly. People are fleeing the high-tax state, so much so that for the first time in history California will lose a congressional seat after the 2020 census. Businesses are also leaving to find greener pastures in places like Texas.

Larry Elder stands as a stark contrast to the union-beholden, government-bloat protecting Newsom, and a majority of regular Californians, no matter their political stripe, may have decided enough is enough, it’s time for a change. The trouble is that Democrats have so rigged the system with mass mail-in balloting and other ballot-related shenanigans that the prospect of a conservative actually winning is still a long shot. Even so, it’s not nearly as long as one may have assumed just a couple of months ago.

Update: Now with the possibility that Newsom could actually be recalled becoming a very real possibility, elections “experts” are suddenly calling for a rigorous audit of the results.