On Thursday, a California state legislator reported that the recall petition targeting Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who has implemented strict lockdowns across the state since the coronavirus pandemic began, was getting close to success, which would prompt a recall election within four to six months.
California State Assembly GOP member Kevin Kiley, who represents the 6th district, which includes areas around Sacramento, California’s capital, tweeted, “And just like that, we’re at 1.4 million signatures.”
And just like that, we’re at 1.4 million signatures.
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) February 4, 2021
The latest effort to recall Newsom, after five failed previous attempts, was launched on June 10, 2020. The petition has “until March 17, 2021, to collect the 1,495,709 signatures needed to require a recall election,” Ballotpedia notes, adding, “Recall supporters say Newsom mishandled the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, did not do enough to address the state’s homelessness rate, and supported sanctuary city policies and water rationing.”
The petition states:
The grounds for this Recall are as follows: Governor Newsom has implemented laws which are detrimental to the citizens of this state and our way of life. Laws he endorsed favor foreign nationals in our country illegally, over that of our own citizens. People in this state suffer the highest taxes in the nation, the highest homelessness rates, and the lowest quality of life as a result. He has imposed sanctuary state status and fails to enforce immigration laws.
He unilaterally over-ruled the will of the people regarding the death penalty. He seeks to impose additional burdens on our state by the following: removing the protections of Proposition 13, rationing our water use, increasing taxes and restricting parental rights. Having no other recourse, we the people have come together to take this action, remedy these misdeeds and prevent further injustices.
If there is a recall election, “[t]he election must be held between 88 and 125 days from the meeting in which the election was called for. If a regular or special election is already scheduled during this time period, the recall question must appear in the scheduled election. If no such election is already scheduled, a special election must be called for the recall vote,” Ballotpedia notes. “The official against whom the recall is sought cannot submit himself or herself as a possible replacement candidate.”
“The recall ballot has two components: a yes or no vote for recall, and the names of replacement candidates, selected by the nomination process used in regular elections,” The University of California’s Institute for Governmental Studies explained. “The recall measure itself is successful if it passes by a majority. In that case, the replacement candidate with a simple plurality of votes wins the office. If the recall measure fails, the replacement candidate votes are ignored.”
The latest recall effort is the sixth launched against Newsom. On October 7, 2003, California held its first gubernatorial recall election; Democratic governor Gray Davis was recalled and replaced with GOP candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger. Eight months before, in February 2003, Davis had dismissed the recall effort as “partisan mischief” by “a handful of right-wing politicians.”
