California Governor Gavin Newsom has already assembled a team that will mount his defense in what is expected to be the country’s biggest election in 2021. | Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
OAKLAND – Supporters of the recall targeting California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday that they had sent 2,117,730 signatures by the day’s deadline, a number that appears to comfortably exceed the required limit, even if some are invalid.
Newsom himself acknowledged on Tuesday that the recall will likely qualify, and he has already assembled a team that will mount its defense in what must be the country’s biggest election in 2021. Democrats can raise well over $ 100 million to defend the chair of the governor in one of the bluest states in the country.
The final proposals will keep 58 district election officials busy checking signatures. Proponents have already registered a validity rate of almost 84%, higher than normal for election campaigns. County registrars have until April 29 to verify that proponents have obtained about 1.5 million required signatures across the state.
For all intents and purposes, however, Newsom’s recognition on Tuesday marked the start of the campaign this week. His team has already launched ads and started raising hundreds of thousands of dollars. Another Republican, former congressman Doug Ose, joined former San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer and 2018 Republican candidate for governor John Cox as candidates in the race this week.
The governor is trying to tie the campaign to supporters of former President Donald Trump, who is deeply unpopular in California. Proponents of the recall, on the other hand, are trying to focus on intense frustration with the closure of Newsom’s pandemic companies and California lagging behind all other states in the reopening of schools.
Republican recall strategist Dave Gilliard said in a tweet on Wednesday that the signatories to the petition were “64.10% GOP; 25.30% NPP (without preference of part); 9.00% Dem; 1.60% of others and 49.48% of women “. He added that supporters of the recall did not focus on Democratic voters, suggesting that those who signed sought petitions on their own.
A revocation election may be the Republicans’ best chance of claiming government in a state where Democrats have had firm control of the state capitol for years and Republican records have dwindled to less than a quarter of the electorate.
Under state law, the revocation ballot will ask voters two questions: do they want to revoke Newsom and, if so, who wants to replace him. Newsom cannot appear among the candidates for revocation, which leaves the door open for a Republican to win with a plurality of votes if the Republican Party succeeds in convincing the majority of voters to remove the Democratic governor.
If county registrars find that sufficient signatures have been sent, several different electoral processes must take place before the recall is actually defined, according to Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s office. The head of state elections will have until May 9 to notify counties that the election has been qualified and then allow voters to withdraw their signatures from May 10 to June 21.
While this recession is permitted under state law, Democratic strategists told POLITICO that it will probably be impossible for Newsom to find enough signatories to withdraw its support, given the number of voters who supported the recall effort.
Counties then have until July 6 to notify Weber if there are still enough signatures. The State Finance Department will then have from July 6 to August 17 to analyze the recall costs, and the state legislature will have until September 16 to assess these costs and budget for the recall.
At that point, Weber will then officially certify the signatures for the recall on September 17, the same day that Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis will declare the actual date of the election. Experts expect it to fall somewhere between October and the end of November.