Sen. Bernie Sanders responds to efforts to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom

WASHINGTON (KION) Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) shared his view on recent efforts to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Twitter Monday.

Sanders said in the post, "Right-wing Republicans in CA are trying to recall @GavinNewsom for the crime of telling people to wear masks and for listening to scientists during COVID. Extremist Republicans have done enough to undermine democracy already. We must all unite to oppose the recall in California."

About 1.5 million valid signatures are needed for the recall to qualify for the ballot, and the group behind the effort reports that they have more than 1.9 million signatures on their petition, though the signatures will still need to be verified. To qualify, the group must have the required number of signatures and submit them by March 17.

As of the California Secretary of States' last report through Feb. 5, the recall effort had 668,202 valid signatures. At that point, the number of valid signatures made up 83% of the signatures collected.

Newsom recall proponents gather more than a million signatures