California’s secretary of state announced this week that the effort to recall the state’s governor Gavin Newsom has more than enough verified signatures to proceed.
How we got here: Backers of the recall effort already reached the 1.5 million signature threshold in April but there was a 30-day period where people who signed the petition were given the chance to withdraw their support for the recall election, as mandated by state law.
The story: According to the secretary of state’s office, Shirley Weber, there are 1,719,900 verified signatures after 43 people withdrew their signatures in the 30-day period since April.
Weber said in a statement on Wednesday that he has notified California Department of Finance Director Keely Martin Bosler of the result.
His letter triggers the next phase of the process.
What’s next? The finance department will determine the cost of the recall election and whether it should be conducted as a special election or a regular election, The department has until Aug. 5 to calculate cost estimates and send them to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the secretary of state, and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee’s chairperson.
The committee will be then given 30 days to review and comment on the petition. Weber would then officially certify it to initiate a recall election.
Worth noting: On the ballot, voters will be asked if Newsom should be recalled and to pick a candidate to replace him. So far, no Democratic candidate has said they will run against the California governor.
Among those who have announced a bid are former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and businessman John Cox, who lost to Newson in 2018. Caitlyn Jenner has also announced a run.
If Newsom is not recalled during the election, he will face re-election in 2022.
Newsom has branded the effort a “Republican recall.”
“An RNC-backed Republican recall of White supremacists, anti-Semites and people who are opposed to immigration and immigrants is an accurate assessment of who’s behind this recall,” he told CNN.
So far, there have been a total of 54 petitions to recall California governors, excluding the petition against Newsom, but only one such effort has succeeded. It took place in 2003 when former Gov. Gray Davis was recalled and replaced by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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