In a recent editorial by the LA Times Editorial Board, Deputy Manager Sewell Chan said that Californians should vote against efforts to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom. He did not reveal in the editorial his own plans to leave the state to become a resident of Texas.
Chan will become the new editor-in-chief for the Texas Tribune.
Ballots for the Sept. 14 special recall election have been mailed to 22 million California voters, according to Chan's opinion piece. "The ballot poses two questions. The first is whether Gov. Gavin Newsom should be removed from office. The correct response is a strong, unequivocal no."
The editorial claimed that replacing Newsom would doom the state to "months of political and bureaucratic dysfunction and economic uncertainty." Chan said, "We fervently oppose the recall of Gavin Newsom."
Newsom's self-inflicted problems regarding COVID-19 dismayed the editorial board as "he didn’t always follow his own guidance." In November he and his wife dined unmasked and shoulder to shoulder with 10 other people in a private semi-enclosed outdoor room at the French Laundry, a high-end restaurant in Napa Valley.
Chan stated in his article that California's liberal policies have not solved many of the state's problems. He especially criticized the power of public-sector unions and complacency of parts of the Democratic power structure.
"There is no doubt that California liberalism hasn’t exactly solved soaring homelessness, persistent economic and social inequality, a mediocre education system and, most pressing of all, a housing crisis that threatens the future of the Golden State as a place of opportunity and growth," according to the article.
Chan stated he believes that the opportunity to head the Texas Tribune can help him change the political structure and ideology of the publication's followers.
Chan said, "the opportunity to direct the work in a state that is going to be politically pivotal – with such issues as voting rights, climate change, demographics, technology and abortion rights – seemed too good to pass up.”
Chan will be the fifth newsroom leader in the 12 years since the Texas Tribune began reporting "on politics and policy and holding people in power and institutions accountable." The Texas Tribune stated that Chan "will lead our nonprofit newsroom in a moment when more Texans than ever are clamoring for reliable, credible nonpartisan journalism."