Special Election To Recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom Set For Sept. 14

In a Sept. 14 election, California voters will decide whether to recall Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and replace him with another candidate, according to the lieutenant governor.

Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis set an election date between 60 and 80 days from the date of certification after Secretary of State Shirley Weber certified the gubernatorial recall petition earlier Thursday.

Weber stated in late April that the organizer of the recall petition had collected more than the requisite 1.5 million verified signatures, despite the fact that the signatures had only recently been formally confirmed.

Voters who signed the recall petition had a 30-day window to request that their signatures be deleted, but just 43 did, according to Weber. Over 1.7 million signatures in favor of the recall have been validated.

On Thursday, the California Department of Finance predicted that the recall election will cost $276 million.

According to recent polls, Newsom appears to be on his way to comfortably defeat the recall campaign.

According to a statewide poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California in May, just 40% of probable voters would vote to recall Newsom if the election were held, while 57% would vote to keep him as governor. A majority of people must vote “yes” to recall the governor of the state.

According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 55 percent of Californians approve of the way Newsom is managing his job in general, and 64 percent approve of his reaction to COVID specifically.

Newsom’s team has slammed the recall as a political, Republican-led endeavor that is a waste of public funds.

“This Republican recall is a naked attempt by Trump Republicans to grab control in California — powered by the same Republicans who refused to accept the results of the presidential election and are now pushing voter suppression laws across the country,” Juan Rodriguez, the leader of the Newsom-aligned group “Stop The Republican Recall,” said in a statement in response to the date being set.

Most voters are undoubtedly aware that Newsom is a Democrat, but when responding to the recall petition in February 2020, his staff forgot to clarify that he wanted his party membership to appear on the recall ballot. Newsom’s campaign submitted a notice of party preference with Weber on June 19, but the secretary refused to accept it, stating in a statement, “The Secretary of State’s office has a ministerial responsibility to accept timely filed documents. Acceptance of files beyond a deadline needs judicial determination.”

“The absurdity of this suit is almost surreal,” Orrin Heatlie, the chief proponent of the recall effort, said in a statement Thursday, while Mike Netter, another proponent of the recall effort, blasted Newsom, saying, “This Governor is so focused on identity politics that it is that important to him to actually sue his own appointed Secretary of State to demand she override a revocation.”

Heatlie and Netter co-founded the California Patriot Coalition, which plans to intervene in the case next week.

Voters will be asked two questions as they cast their ballots. The first is whether or not they want to recall Newsom, and the second is who they want to replace him if the recall is successful.

Despite the fact that the recall organizers claim to be nonpartisan, Republicans have rallied behind it, including the California Republican Party’s chairwoman, who branded Newsom the “worst governor in California history” in a statement released after the date was chosen.

So far, no significant Democrats have started recall attempts to replace Newsom on the ballot. Organizers and Republican candidates hoping to succeed the governor have cited his handling of the epidemic, particularly government-mandated restrictions on businesses and schools, as well as government overreach in general.

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Newsom’s 2018 opponent John Cox, and reality personality and former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner are among the prominent Republicans in the campaign to succeed him.

This is Newsom’s sixth formal recall attempt. In the United States, only one California governor has ever been successfully recalled. Gray Davis, California’s Democratic governor, lost a recall election in 2003, and actor and Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger were elected to replace him.

Davis’ approval rating was substantially lower than Newsom’s throughout his time in office, according to PPIC polls. Over 70% of California voters disapproved of Davis in five surveys taken over nine months leading up to the 2003 election. In addition, the state is considerably more Democratic today than it was in 2003.