Newsom fights for survival in recall vote as campaigns trade barbs on final weekend
CBSN
California Governor Gavin Newsom's political future faces a critical test Tuesday when voters have their final chance to cast ballots in the recall election aimed at cutting Newsom's first term short.
Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans in California and Newsom has received significant backing from some of his most influential allies in the state and support from top national Democrats, including President Biden, who will be in California Monday to campaign for Newsom. Proponents of the recall are hoping that energy against Newsom's handling of COVID-19 will lead to a stunning political upset in deep blue California. This is the sixth recall attempt by Newsom's political opponents to unseat the governor, but the first time voters will weigh in on the issue. It's just the second time a California governor faces a recall election. In 2003, voters recalled Democratic Governor Gray Davis and replaced him with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.