California: Newsom Recall Round-up -- former State Senate Majority Leader endorses Elder; 2.7M ballots handed in, Polls!

Former State Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero (D) has endorsed the recall and Larry Elder. Romero is a big supporter of charter schools, which seem to be her reason for the endorsement. (Note that unlike the Senate in the US, the Majority Leader isn't the highest ranking position -- that is the Senate President Pro Tempore. Majority Leader would be seen as second in command -- closer to how the House views the position).

A new Change Research poll has Newsom up 57-42 among likely voters.

About 2.7 million ballots have been returned, which may be a good sign for Newsom (?). After 2020, Republicans have been turned off from their previous love of absentee ballots, and the strong assumption is that mail in ballots will heavily favor Newsom. To put it in context, almost 12.5 million votes were cast in 2018. 

Silicon Valley split, as some of the biggest names (and money) in Tech have come out big for Newsom, but there are also a notable contingent of recall backers. 

Bad decision here, as a sample ballot mailed to voters is causing confusion as to whether it can be used for the vote.