California effort to recall Gavin Newsom gets signatures needed to trigger vote
California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, is set to face a recall election after organizers of the effort collected enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.
The California secretary of state’s office announced on Monday that more than 1.6m signatures had been verified, about 100,000 more than needed to force a vote on Newsom, a first-term Democrat.
A recall election would likely be held in the fall, when voters will first be asked whether Newsom be removed from office, and then, who should replace him. Responses to the latter question will only be counted if more than 50% vote to recall the governor.
California is one of more than a dozen states that allow voters to hold recall elections.
The recall effort is led by Republicans who opposed Democrat Newsom’s pandemic shutdowns and mask mandate, as well as his immigration and tax policies. The campaign has tried to distance itself from its ties to far-right groups, including QAnon, following the deadly 6 January attack on the US capitol.
The effort collected a groundswell of support as the state faced its most deadly phase of the pandemic in the winter.
Newsom will face off against an array of political challengers that includes a reality TV star and a former Facebook executive.
Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympic athlete known for her role in Keeping Up With the Kardashians, announced plans to run against Newsom last week.
Other Republican challengers include Kevin Faulconer, the former mayor of San Diego; John Cox, who lost to Newsom in 2018 by more than 20 points; and Doug Ose, a former congressman.
The porn actor and reality TV star Mary Carey and the model Angelyne, who rose to prominence in the 1980s after she was featured in a series of billboards around LA, are also running.
In 2003, voters recalled Democratic governor Gray Davis and replaced him with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. It is the only other recall of a California governor to qualify for the ballot.
Newsom won election in 2018 with support from more than 60% of voters. Recalling him will be a tough sell in the heavily Democratic state where just a quarter of registered voters are Republicans, about the same number as those who identify as “no party preference”.
But organizers see an opening by energizing voters who were angered by Newsom’s handling of the pandemic and those frustrated by one-party rule
in Sacramento. Republicans have not won statewide office since 2006, when voters gave Schwarzenegger a second term.
Republicans had already tried and failed to recall Newsom before. But the pandemic gave the latest recall effort new momentum, especially after the governor was caught last fall dining at a fancy restaurant for a lobbyist’s birthday while urging residents to stay home.
Dozens of other candidates, serious and not, are expected to enter the race.
Still, ousting Newsom remains an uphill battle. Speaking to the Guardian in March, Mindy Romero, the founder of the Center for Inclusive Democracy, a non-partisan research organization, described the recall as more of a strategy to rally Republican voters and raise funds, rather than a serious effort at leadership change.
“The recall can be a rallying cry, in California and across the county,” Romero said. “For the Republican candidates running against the governor, it can raise their national profiles.”
So far no other Democrats have announced plans to run against Newsom. The governor launched an anti-recall campaign in March, crafting the effort as one driven by Republican extremists and adherents to Donald Trump, who lost California twice.
If Newsom survives the recall he will be up for re-election next year.