ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — The recall election is nearly here, and both sides of the aisle are ramping up efforts to secure votes.
These are the final hours before election night, and the Democratic Party of Orange County is buzzing with volunteers.
Executive Director Ajay Mohan has teamed with a number of other groups to phone bank and prepare flyers for canvassing.
"Right now we are sorting literature for canvassers, so this is going to go out in the field. We’re going to put this on people’s doors," he said while organizing flyers.
The youngest executive director in the OC party’s history says he’s fired up to be leading this effort and thinks voters are, too.
Though this is a special election, Mohan says he isn’t concerned about voter apathy because from what he’s seen, democratic activism is going strong.
"We know that Democrats, in particular, are very fired up to keep the governor in office, and we like the governor and his policies," Mohan said. "We want to make sure he stays in and comparing him to the leading opponents in this recall is night and day.”
It’s the message his canvassers are spreading as they go door-to-door, asking residents to vote 'no' on the recall and go to the ballot drop because that will completely negate the second question on the ballot.
Catt Phan is just 25 years old, representing the Orange County Young Democrats organization.
The grad student says it was important for her to get involved now, after years of indifference to what was happening in the world around her.
"When I look back on 2020, 2021 all these really important decisions, I don’t want to say I was just on the sidelines. I want to say I was with my community, lifting up those who needed to be lifted up," she said.
About 80 miles north, the campaign to get Newsom out of office called Rescue California stopped in Sherman Oaks on a tour through half the state.
Campaign Manager Anne Dunsmore says as a Republican, she is concerned about voter apathy across the board.
"I think when there’s so much information out in the market, people don’t know what to do and they throw their hands up," Dunsmore said.
Their next stop on the tour, called Real People for the Recall, was in Bakersfield, then the Bay Area.
This stop in Sherman Oaks included Angela Marsden, owner of the Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill whose viral video became a political talking point when she blasted politicians for lockdown hypocrisy.
Now, nearly a year later, Marsden is sharing her plea for voters to elect anyone besides Newsom into office.
"He has created so much pain and loss for the people he’s supposed to represent," Marsden said.
Both sides say they have thousands of volunteers in the field, and on the phones to get out the vote. Back in Orange County, Mohan says they aren’t slowing down until polling places close on Tuesday.
"We’re going to be sending people out to the doors, to specifically minority communities, to make sure that we’re driving up the vote, that we’re getting people to send in their ballots, to go vote in person by Sept. 14," he said.