Thread by @mattsheffield

Thread: Who is funding the #CARecall effort to get rid of Gavin Newsom? Luxury real estate developers, radical Christian supremacists, and hedge fund fat cats.

Please join me down the rabbit hole and share, if you wouldn't mind.

The biggest donor to the #CaliforniaRecallElection effort against Newsom is Geoff Palmer. He's a luxury condo developer who hates Newsom's plans to make more affordable housing in CA.

Palmer has donated $1.2 million ladowntownnews.com/news/geoff-pal…

Next on the list is John Kruger. He's a big donor to right-wing Christian schools focused on getting them government cash.

He originally tried to hide the $500,000 he donated to the recall effort behind a corporation named after a Bible verse, Proverbs 3:9. ...

Eventually, under pressure from CA officials, he revealed his name.

Kruger also disclosed that he was funding the recall because Newsom had followed safety precautions early in the Covid pandemic and closed religious gatherings to protect people politico.com/states/califor…

Before we continue, I should credit @CalMatters for compiling a list of the biggest donors. They don't have a lot of info on them though so I am making this thread. Here's the link as we continue. calmatters.org/politics/2021/…

@CalMatters Another big #CARecall funder is Saul Fox. He's a vulture capitalist specializing in leveraged buyout takeovers of ailing businesses. He gave $200k.

@CalMatters National right-wing dark money groups have mostly not gotten involved in the #CARecall. But there are two California-based ones that have. The biggest giver was the Lincoln Club of Orange County. A SoCal bundling organization which does not disclose its members

@CalMatters There are multiple Lincoln Club groups in CA. The Orange County one bundled the most for the recall with $213,000. Unsurprisingly given the proximity, they are boosting unqualified radio host and libertarian ideologue Larry Elder in the second question.

@CalMatters Next on the list of donors looking to recall Newsom is Boyett Petroleum. That's a Modesto-based oil and gas company that operates Boyett Petroleum, Cruisers and Kwik Serv gas stations among other businesses.

It gave $198,000.

@CalMatters And rounding out this list is "California Revival PAC." It's a group headed by former CAGOP head Tom Del Beccaro. He's currently a columnist for the conspiracy website Epoch Times. In 2016, he ran for Senate against Kamala Harris.

His group donated $162,000.

@CalMatters All of these organizations and individuals only got into the game after the recall got enough signatures, however. The group that funded that is called the "California Patriot Coalition" which is a straight-up Christian supremacist group.

@CalMatters On the CPC website, the group claims that the U.S. Constitution was divinely inspired (apparently the slavery parts too). Of course, it says that "Faith" is its organization's top organizational value. web.archive.org/web/2021090802…

This is who is bringing you the #CARecall, a $276 million waste since Newsom already faced election in 2022.

Make no mistake, the recall is the latest twist on the GOP's decades-long effort to impose minority rule on America. More details here: flux.community/matthew-sheffi… /end

PS: I forgot to add that another donor to recall groups has been HuckPAC, the campaign group of Mike Huckabee. It gave $250k.

Huck said repeatedly he would criminalize all abortions on day 1 of his presidency. He's also addressed white supremacist groups buzzfeednews.com/article/andrew…

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