Newsom recall will cost California taxpayers $215 million, state officials say

SACRAMENTO — An analysis released Thursday projects the recall election against Gov. Gavin Newsom will cost at least $215 million, less than what elections officials initially estimated but a large enough price tag that local governments across California will need the state to pick up the tab.

The estimate, contained in a memo to the Joint Legislature Budget Committee, was calculated by surveying elections officials from each of the state’s 58 counties. It could provide the basis for one of two fiscal analyses required by California law, both of which must be completed before a date can be set for the special election in which voters could oust Newsom from office.

“The total costs reported by all counties to conduct a special statewide recall election is $215 million,” state Department of Finance Director Keely Martin Bosler wrote in the letter to lawmakers. “This estimate does not reflect the Secretary of State’s costs associated with a statewide recall election.”

The bulk of the costs for the election would be incurred on the local level, where elections are conducted. State costs are generally much smaller. A spokesperson for Secretary of State Shirley Weber didn’t immediately respond for comment about what other expenses might be expected.

Critics of Newsom submitted more than enough voter signatures this spring to trigger a recall election, setting the stage for only the second gubernatorial recall in California history. Then-gov. Gray Davis lost a 2003 recall, replaced by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. So far, almost six dozen Californians have filed statements of intention seeking to run in the recall election — including former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, 2018 gubernatorial hopeful

John Cox and reality TV star and retired Olympic decathlete Caitlyn Jenner, all Republicans.

No prominent Democrats have joined the preliminary field. Candidates can’t formally join the race until after an election date is chosen by Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis.

A poll by the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times released last month found only 36% of registered voters surveyed would remove Newsom from office.

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