republicans got this on the ballot because of a backlash in the most conservative parts of the state to the stringency of what newsom was punctuated by the hip ok i are cy of him appearing at french laundry. as the year went on, particularly as the delta variant surged and newsom responded with some of the most aggressive policies in the country, mask manned yairts in the schools, vaccine mandates for government employees and health workers he was able to make that the central point of distinction in the race. when elder got in the race as harry said it gave him a foil. but you know, there were a lot of issues where elder is to the right of the state that newsom could have chosen to focus on. he chose to focus on the mandates and kind of following science and not allowing california to go down the path of texas and florida. and i think if nothing else that certainly energized democrats. also from the exits it seemed to work with independent voters. and in that sense i think it is reassuring to the president that