Leaders of California Government Calls Gavin Newsom
Gavin NewsomWhite House says Shalanda Young could serve as acting director of the OMB in California to set aside 40 percent of vaccine doses for areas at greatest risk. (D) said on Sunday that they had collected enough signatures to spark a special election this year.
At a press conference, organizers announced that the effort had collected 1.95 million signatures in support of the recall more than a week before the March 17 deadline. The leaders of the recall movement said they still intend to try to reach 2 million before the date.
“It’s more than enough to qualify this initiative for a special election later this year to make the people finally decide … what’s going to happen to the fate and future of California Gavin Newsom,” Randy Economy , a political adviser working on the effort, said.
“Californians are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with how their state is governed,” he added.
Electoral officials will have to confirm that nearly 1.5 million of these signatures came from registered voters in California before the special election begins.
In early February, the Secretary of State determined that about 83 percent of the signatures collected up to that point had been confirmed, reports The Sacramento Bee. If the rate with all the petitions remains the same, it is enough to get an election.
One of the leaders of the effort, Mike Netter, said about 1.6 million of the signatures were collected by volunteers.
“I do not think you have ever seen such a volunteer movement,” he said.
“These are literally people from all walks of life, all parties, all religions,” he said. “We have a variety in the world and collect one thing, and that is the fact that California needs a new governor.”
Newsom’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.
The recall movement gained traction because criticism has surfaced against Newsom over its response to the coronavirus pandemic, particularly the restrictions on gatherings and certain businesses.
Newsom won the 2018 government race with 62 percent support in the state where Democrats have super majorities in both chambers of state legislature.
A poll by the University of California-Berkeley’s Institute for Government Studies in January found that 36 percent of respondents said they would vote against Newsom in a special election. Forty-five percent indicated that they would stand by the governor if a by-election were held.