Newsom recall effort collects more than 1.9 million signatures
The group organizing the effort to recall Governor Gavin Newsom has reached over 1.9 million signatures. But those signatures are still needed to be verified and validated.
A total of 1.5 million validated signatures are needed for this recall to make it onto the ballot. According to the last summary of signatures provided by the secretary of state's office on February 5th, 84% of signatures verified were deemed valid. Counties submitted nearly 800,000 verified signatures but nearly 700,000 were deemed valid.
Local Political Historian and Analyst David Anderson said recalls have been around for over 100 years and have been tried dozens of times at the governor level. But was only successful in 2003 with Gray Davis.
"Other times it failed but there have been some times it worked. Basically unhappy voters can petition and set up a special election to decide whether to remove someone who is in office.”
There are two prominent republican candidates who announced they are running to replace Newsom if recalled, Kevin Faulconer and John Cox. The Democratic Party does not have a similar candidate in the race.
“Who’s the name they want on there,” said Anderson. “They want to support that person in the event that Newsom is recalled. “Then the alternative vote will go to another democrat and not to the prominent republicans."
If all signatures needed are collected, California residents will be asked two questions on the ballot, If you want to remove Gov. Newsom from office and if removed which candidate do you prefer? The candidate with the most votes wins. Former Monterey County Republican Party Chair and Congressional Candidate Jeff Gorman said he’s spoken with several people across the political spectrum who are in favor of Governor Newsroom’s recall.
“It's really important for the California voter of any party,” said Gorman. “If they’re not really involved and not typically voting to realize that their vote is their voice. They need to speak and do some research. It's not too early to start researching what kind of government you would want.”
The deadline to submit final signatures is March 17th.
