Yuma residents weigh in on California Recall Election

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - We wanted to find out what Yuma locals are thinking of the historic California Recall Election and we got some mixed reactions Tuesday. The Coronavirus Pandemic sparked most of the conversation.

Some believe it set off the recall for California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to begin with. However, the recall originated in February 2020 before the pandemic.

With California and Arizona being right next to each other, many people go back and forth to visit like Dolores Messer, a Yuma resident.

“I go spend my time in San Diego. And when I’ve been there I have done a lot of the precautions, at the time they were doing a lot of precautions,” she said.

But Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) and Gov. Newsom have taken a different approach to handle the public health crisis. Locals we spoke to agree the handling of measures are quite different.

Messer hopes the California governor stays in office.

“I see that it's a real thing and I'm working in the hospital, the numbers are going up, and people are dying. And I think that doing whatever he can do to protect everybody means that he cares about the people,” Messer added.

On the other hand, Margo Oliver is for the recall. She didn't agree with how the governor handled COVID-19 closures.

“I was very upset that you know, establishments stayed open that made no sense. And when we [had] really important things that were needed for people [those] were closed down or stopped,” Oliver explained.

As for how COVID-19 transmission is currently looking in both California and Arizona, the CDC reporting Imperial and Yuma counties are in the red category which means both our areas are high in transmission.