There are lots of “discouraging” polls out today, showing that the campaign to Recall Gavin Newsom is losing steam, and that the anti-Recall efforts are winning. It almost seems like they either held results or manufactured results to spill out one after the other four days from the Special Recall election on September 14.

@latimes: New poll finds #Newsom could easily beat recall thanks to motivated @Democrats. As a #Democrat,I was certainly motivated, by #AB5, Newsom escapades at #FrenchLaundry, crime, homelessness and wildfires, so I voted "Yes" on #Recall and for @KevinKileyCA.

— 78tiger (@78tiger) September 10, 2021

One of the reasons why those who support the Recall are not losing confidence is because just like the Mama Bears, there is a voting bloc that has not, or cannot be quantified by pollsters: Independent professionals, freelancers, self-employed and gig workers who have been decimated by AB5.

We really are not a voting bloc: we are a coalition comprised of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and No Party Preference. We don’t fit in any voting bloc, which can be used as a powerful tool in contests. We are Zoomers, Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers, and we span the spectrum of race, gender, and socioeconomic status. I seriously doubt if there is a pollster that could quantify us or our ability to influence this Recall election.

Remember the Businessman Mike Garcia, the Republican who squared off against Assemblywoman Christy Smith for the District 25 congressional seat? Mike Garcia is now Rep. Mike Garcia, in no small part due to the efforts of independent professionals who were affected by AB5. While in the Assembly, Smith advocated and voted for AB5, and then insulted us by not only trying to deny she supported the law, but by claiming self-employed didn’t pay taxes.

We helped to win a congressional seat, and we can do even more to unseat a corrupt governor.

@TheDemocrats are delusional. They have no idea how many votes they will lose due to the #PROAct. They think that the @GavinNewsom recall is a red plot. Think again. It is is large part due to #AB5 https://t.co/OrohhPN04v

— Bill Hinchberger (@hinchberger) September 10, 2021

This so-called “Gig Workers” law was supposed to right the wrongs of misclassification of 1099 independent contractors who should have been employees. The author of the law was aimed at Uber and Lyft, but in its wake, the law effectively wiped out entire sectors and sometimes entire industries, like independent theaters and live music. What this law has essentially done is remove a person’s right to choose to work as an independent contractor or a gig worker in the state of California.

Have a look @TheDemocrats . This is largely due to #AB5 and the #PROAct. Time to wise up https://t.co/K4mBuVV6Qh

— Bill Hinchberger (@hinchberger) September 8, 2021

My life as a freelance writer, reinvention coach, and Yoga instructor was upended, as were the lives and livelihoods of millions of others. While estimates put us as low as 1 million to as high as 4.5 million, there may well be more of us.

#BigUnion stooges like @LorenaSGonzalez @GavinNewsom and the entire #CaLeg are killing the middle class in California. Freelancers were able to make solid livings before #AB5!#VoteYesOnTheRecall #RecallGavinNewsom @KevinKileyCA @larryelder

— Roxanne Hoge (@RoxanneForAD46) September 2, 2021

The far-reaching destruction of the law is still making itself evident. Over 600 professions have been affected so far, and we are still counting.

@LorenaSGonzalez 's claim that "not a single profession was banned by #AB5" is not false, as over 600 professions were banned. The legacy of @LorenaAD80 , and one of 100s of reasons @GavinNewsom – who signed off on this assault on our livelihoods – is unfit for office.#RepealAB5 https://t.co/n2vL0nucJ7

— Ildiko Santana (@Ildiko_Santana) September 8, 2021

Despite advocacy and petitions to our lawmakers to not do this to us, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-Evil Harridan), at the behest of powerful unions such as the California Federation of Labor, strong armed the bill through committees, offered an astroturf testimony by a supposed misclassified worker to justify the bill, and filled the re-election coffers of Democrat legislators in vulnerable districts to ease the pain of any backlash when they voted “YES” on the bill.

Additionally, even if you work part time and don't need the benefits, companies are less likely to do 1099 even if you meet the "ABC" test. Ask me how I know. #AB5 #RecallGavinNewsom https://t.co/hro1kujlJM

— Chris Anderson (@RiddleMeThrice) September 8, 2021

The California Legislature passed AB5 on September 11, 2019, and Gavin Newsom signed it into law on September 18, 2019. The law took full effect on January 1, 2020, just a few short months before COVID-19 disrupted our nation and world. Governor Gavin Newsom, anxious to polish his national leadership credentials, rushed to close the State.

In an April 1 press conference, Newsom said:

“There is opportunity for reimagining a [more] progressive era as it [relates] to capitalism. So yes, absolutely we see this as an opportunity to reshape the way we do business and how we govern.”

This was @GavinNewsom's worst moment so far. He should have answered that he's 100 percent focused on getting our state through the crisis – not on taking advantage of it politically. pic.twitter.com/tERsV8Zz3z

— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) April 1, 2020

Sadly, the lives of independent professionals was part of that reshaping as we became grist for the mill. Not only did we lose our livelihoods in the middle of a pandemic, but the California Employment Development Department chose to play games with the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) funds that were supposed to be designated specifically for 1099 workers. You see, to add more poison to an already toxic law, Gonzalez (who “authored” the law), made the CA EDD the enforcement arm of the law, and penalties that resulted from misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor could be enacted retroactively, up to $25,000 per violation. As soon as an independent professional filed a claim, they were set up to be investigated, and then targeted for breaking the law, then fined.

The law is pure evil.

Many of us work from our homes, which is the beauty of independent work. If I did not have dogs, I would have to force myself to get up from the couch; the majority of what I do can literally be done from there. So, having your income stolen from you, and then being forced inside because the government deemed certain professions essential and others not, was another form of torture. Many of us could have been earning an income while being locked down, but doing that was now against the law.

Despite our letters, requests, petitions to lawmakers, and cries to Newsom himself to suspend the law during the pandemic, those cries fell on deaf ears. In every COVID press conference, Twitter, and Facebook forum, we were ignored, and sometimes blocked.

So, to say that we will do all we can to shut this governor down doesn’t cover the half of it. Some people lost their homes, others their health, others their sense of purpose and being.

A fractured and failing pandemic response was made incredibly worse by this selfish, elitist, and tunnel-visioned dictator.

Why call it the “Republican Recall” when disgruntled Team Blue ICs thrown out of work by @LorenaAD80’s #ab5 are a principal driving force?

Could it be you’re pandering to rank and file Team Blue members with fear so they don’t realize how bad you’ve been for them?

— kenashimame (@kenashimame) September 8, 2021

If the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and its aberrations are not shut down, the rest of the nation will get a taste of what California independent professionals have experienced over the past 21 months.

Rep Garamendi: Your #PROact support proves you learned nothing or don't care about the careers killed with #AB5. PROact forces workers into unions with no ability to speak for themselves & extinguishes 59 million independent contractors to gratify unions. #NoABCtest @SenateGOP https://t.co/Zgi555Qr7A

— Len Fernandes (@SierraTechPR) September 10, 2021

There are only four days left, and all the Recall proponents, including independent professionals are mobilizing; particularly with Dementia’s Joe’s latest overreach with forcing vaccine mandates. While Dementia Joe will no doubt lose in court, there will be no saving Californians from Newsom’s executive wrath should he succeed in beating the Recall.

If you had any doubt that failed CA policies like high taxes & job-killing #AB5 would be the model for DC progressives, look no further. @POTUS left Americans & our allies to face the Taliban, but he’s happy to fly cross-country to campaign for Newsom.https://t.co/5kq4NvM0te

— Mike Garcia (@ElectMikeGarcia) September 3, 2021

We want our livelihoods and our State back. And we will do what it takes to see it done.

Many of those fleeing are independent contractors denied work under #AB5. Vote YES, in part to send a signal to federal lawmakers trying to push copycat anti-freelancer legislation called the #PROAct https://t.co/MPA44shx65

— Bill Hinchberger (@hinchberger) September 8, 2021

Only FOUR DAYS.

California, and independent professionals deserve BEST.