Newsom faces GOP backlash over $230M redistricting special election after calling his recall a 'waste'

The Newsom recall vote is estimated to have cost the state and counties $276 million to administer the election, according to an official projection by the California Department of Finance.

"The last thing California needs is another wasteful special election, supported by those who demonize California's people and attack California's values," the response said.

Yet, speaking this week in front of a committee in a heated exchange about the projected cost of the redistricting special election, Berman said, "$250 million looks like couch cushion change." 

Now, Mullin has said in a press release that he stands with Newsom's special election push as "Democrats are committed to giving voters the opportunity to counter this move in Texas and restore some balance of power in Washington."  

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Jessica Millan Patterson, chair of the conservative group Stop Sacramento's Power Grab, called the redistricting push is an example of Democratic hypocrisy.

"Gavin Newsom and California Democrats have abandoned any pretense of moral high ground by forcing a wasteful special election that voters don't want," said Patterson.

"Their blatant hypocrisy at the expense of California taxpayers sends a clear message: grasping for power matters more to them than honest, principled governing," she added.

In response, Newsom's office directed Fox News Digital to comments the governor made in a press conference last week in which he said, "There's no price tag for democracy."

Newsom assured county officials worried about the special election costs that the state of California "will be funding it."

Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Berman and Mullin but did not receive a response by the time of publication.