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California State Governor Gavin Newsom May 31, 2020Matt Gush / Shutterstock.com

SACRAMENTO, California (LifeSiteNews) — On the eve of a recall election to decide the fate of California’s embattled Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, Students for Life Action (SFLAction) has mounted an aggressive messaging campaign that hopes to turn out pro-life voters in seven of the Golden State’s key cities and counties.

The group’s “text message blitz” intends to reach more than 105,000 voters who have yet to submit early ballots with a message about Newsom’s “dangerous agenda for women,” SFLAction said in a press release. It has also “strategically targeted 7 counties with a door-to-door canvassing program talking to voters with outstanding ballots,” including Chico, Fresno, Oakland, Orange County, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, and Vacaville.

Though California is a solidly blue state, pro-abortion Newsom’s handling of a litany of issues, including COVID-19 lockdowns and illegal immigration, provoked enough of a backlash for activists to collect the signatures necessary to trigger a recall election.

“Boasting an unimpressive record on COVID alongside a struggling economy and an unprecedented homelessness crisis, Newsom has few achievements to enthuse his voter base,” Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins and SFLAction Pacific Southwest regional coordinator Jordan Brittain wrote in a recent Newsweek op-ed. “He’s leaning on an unlikely attribute — his support for abortion — in hopes that his record of maintaining California’s highly permissive abortion laws will help him edge out his challengers.”

While a total of 46 candidates from across the political spectrum have qualified for the recall ballot, the challengers to enjoy the most attention have been former Olympic decathlete and pop culture figure Bruce “Caitlyn” Jenner and, more recently, conservative radio commentator Larry Elder. Both are Republicans, but Jenner’s candidacy divided conservatives due to his “transgender identity” and moderate-to-liberal stances on social issues.

According to public opinion tracking website FiveThirtyEight, polling respondents currently want to keep Newsom by a margin of 56% to 42%, but the authors caution that “[t]his is a particularly challenging race to poll accurately because it’s hard to estimate who’s likely to vote.” The site also finds Elder as the clear favorite among Newsom’s challengers, with almost 28%.

“Now, when push comes to shove, Elder might win more than 28 percent because the pool of voters who cast a replacement vote (the second question) could be notably smaller than the recall electorate (the first question), so Elder’s vote total might represent a bigger slice of that smaller pie,” the authors explain, noting that Newsom’s campaign has encouraged supporters to vote “no” on the recall without picking anyone on the second question.

Further complicating election predictions is the question of vote fraud, allegations of which have already surfaced, including Republican voters in San Fernando Valley being told they have already voted. Former President Donald Trump weighed in Monday, claiming that mail ballots will make the California race “just another giant Election Scam.”

Regardless, Students for Life said it intends to do its part for a pro-life outcome.

“The one-party state of California has for years has abused their franchise by prioritizing abortion over the real needs of pregnant and parenting women,” Hawkins said. “Case in point, California legislators worked over several years to be sure that whenever publicly funded colleges and universities open, the preborn could be killed by Chemical Abortion Pills in student health centers. Prioritizing abortion is a waste of public resources and a tragic loss of the state’s potential, found in the next generation.”