(FeaturedHeadlines.com) – California Governor Gavin Newsom first came into office in 2019, survived a recall attempt in 2021, and went on to win reelection in 2022. However, Newsom is now facing another attempt to remove him from office after having purportedly saddled California with several crises.
Conservative political organization Rescue California served Newsom with a notice of intent to recall on February 26. Newsom “abandoned” California to engage in other political pursuits, leaving the state with a multi-billion-dollar budget deficit, public safety concerns, and immigration and education problems, Rescue California said.
Proponents of the recall effort have also cited increased housing costs, rising homelessness, and free healthcare for immigrants as issues of concern. The effort will be led by volunteers who were involved in the previous attempt to kick Newsom out of office, recall campaign manager Anne Dunsmore said.
The recall effort will not clash with Republican election efforts in California, Dunsmore also said, adding that it will force Newsom to expend political funds to defend himself.
The recall campaign will need to gather approximately 1.38 million signatures—12% of the last gubernatorial race’s turnout—although organizers intend to collect several hundred thousand extra signatures to account for those likely to be declared invalid by the state. Rescue California plans to begin gathering signatures through methods such as mail instead of using paid collectors.
In response to the latest recall effort, Newsom said that he would “handily” beat the initiative again. Newsom survived the 2021 recall attempt with 62% support.
Although a majority of Californians may not support removing Newsom from office, a majority would support removing California from the rest of the United States, according to a February 2024 YouGov poll. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Californians believe the state would be “better off” as an independent political entity, with the caveat that it maintains friendly ties to the US, the poll found. However, 60% believe that such a move would be impossible.
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