On Monday, it became official: The campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom had submitted more than the nearly 1.5 million verified voter signatures it needed to force an election, and for only the second time in 108 years, California voters will decide whether a sitting governor is worthy of the seat. When? Well, the vote may not occur until November because of procedural requirements delaying Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis' ability to schedule the election and because of flexibility she has to set the date.
The state's only other gubernatorial recall election was in 2003. It had 135 candidates, with three splitting 92% of the vote as Arnold Schwarzenegger terminated Gray Davis' political career. Already, celebrities and others are lining up to challenge Newsom and early candidates like Rancho Santa Fe businessman John Cox, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and former Rep. Doug Ose.
The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board will try to meet with all the serious candidates in the election. Others may get an email survey from us. Will we interview everyone? Not if this election morphs into as much of a clown car as the last one.
Does the governor deserve ouster? Ultimately, that's up to California's 21 million registered voters to decide. We've said time and again that a recall is a high bar reserved for corruption or historic incompetence. Newsom certainly has made mistakes in his pandemic response, but the state has gone from worst to first in virus infection rates. In politics, a few months can seem like forever. But take a breath because the race will be here before you know it.
