Leaders in effort to recall the governor of California Gavin Newsom
Gavin NewsomWhite House says Shalanda Young could serve as acting director of OMB in California to reserve 40 percent of vaccine doses for areas at highest risk. Here’s who Biden is now considering for budget chief MORE (D) said on Sunday that they collected enough signatures to trigger a special election this year.
At a press conference, the organizers announced that the effort gathered 1.95 million signatures in support of the recall more than a week before the March 17 deadline. The leaders of the recall movement said they still plan to try to reach 2 million before that date.
“This is more than enough for this initiative to qualify for a special election later this year to allow people to finally decide … what will happen to the fate and future of California Governor Gavin Newsom,” Randy Economy, a political adviser working on the effort, said.
“Californians are increasingly dissatisfied with the way their state works,” he added.
Election officials will have to confirm that nearly 1.5 million of these signatures come from registered voters in California before starting the special election.
In early February, the Secretary of State’s Office determined that about 83% of the signatures collected up to that point were verified, The Sacramento Bee reported. If the rate remained the same on all petitions, it would be enough to win an election.
One of the leaders of the effort, Mike Netter, said that about 1.6 million of the signatures were collected by volunteers.
“I don’t think you’ve ever seen a voluntary movement like this,” he said.
“They are literally people from all walks of life, all parties, all religions,” he said. “We have a widespread diversity, collecting and uniting (in) one thing, which is the fact that California needs a new governor.”
Newsom’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.
The recall movement gained momentum as criticism increased against Newsom for its response to the coronavirus pandemic, particularly restrictions on meetings and certain businesses.
Newsom won the 2018 governor race with 62 percent support in the state where Democrats have super majorities in both chambers of the state legislature.
A survey by the Institute for Government Studies at the University of California-Berkeley in January determined that 36% of respondents said they would vote against Newsom in a special election. Forty-five percent indicated that they would run for governor if a revocation election took place.