Republican gubernatorial candidate Assemblyman Kevin Kiley held a campaign event at the Clovis Senior Center on Saturday, Aug. 7, as he looks to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in September’s recall election.
Kiley’s speech mainly criticized Newsom’s tenure as governor, pointing to how Newsom’s corruption has led to California’s decay.
“No one has ever embodied, personified, exemplified corruption, like Gavin Newsom,” Kiley said.
Kiley, 36, has represented Rocklin as an assembly member for three terms and is among the top Republican candidates to possibly replace Newsom in the Sept. 14 recall election.
If elected, Kiley would be the youngest governor in the nation while leading the largest state by population.
In understanding his audience’s demographic, Kiley’s speech focused on the drought, the pandemic, and schools, all of which have ongoing significance to Clovis.
Kiley promises to allocate state funding toward water construction projects and prioritize water delivery to agriculture and urban users.
“If elected governor, I will choose abundance over scarcity. The people of California have already made that choice. They overwhelmingly voted for new water storage in 2014,” Kiley said. “We get more than enough water. We just need to manage it responsibly.”
The plan is to allocate 2% of the state’s general fund every year for water construction projects until the annual water supply to California’s farms and cities increases by 5 million acre-feet.
Kiley was also critical of Newsom’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in its early stages, stating all 49 other states have fared much better than California because they chose less restrictive measures.
“California’s response has been the worst of any state,” Kiley said. “Each and every one of them did things in a less restrictive manner than California. And generally, the ones that voice the greatest level of trust in their citizens did the best.”
Kiley said that Newsom took corruption to new levels during the pandemic, allowing the governor’s top donors to receive substantial no-bid contracts.
“Powerful interest [groups], including Hollywood, were exempted from lockdowns as small businesses died in droves,” Kiley said.
Additionally, Kiley vowed never to shut down schools ever again, saying that Newsom’s shut down of schools has “inflicted untold harm on a generation of young people.”
“Gavin Newsom has made it clear that he is ready and willing to shut down our schools again. But, if I am your governor, that will not happen,” Kiley said. “On day one, I will make sure every California school is open, full time, five days a week. No excuses, and no mask-wearing.”
Kiley said, “on day one, minute one,” he would end the state of emergency, wiping out all state and local emergency orders.
“I will unwind Gavin Newsom’s one-man rule in one fell swoop,” Kiley said. “Every executive action that Gavin Newsom has taken to violate our rights and diminish our freedoms, I will take executive action to restore those rights and defend those freedoms.”