They claimed the same about Grey Davis.
Polls are designed to support the Reich.
And there's a lot more that is a lot more obviously wrong with Gavin Newsom than there ever was with Grey-Out Davis.
The big thing that drove the recall effort against Davis was problems with the supply of electrical power failing to meet the state's needs. To be honest, I don't think Davis really deserved to be blamed as much for that as he was; this was a problem decades in the making, that just happened to come to a head when he was Governor.
Similar electrical-supply issues have happened recently, under Newsom, and he has been blamed, perhaps more than he deserves, for them. But that's the least of his troubles.