SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom will face a recall election on Sept. 14, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis announced Thursday.
Her declaration follows more than a year of petition-gathering and campaigning fueled, in part, by outrage over the governor’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whether he will actually lose his job, however, is unclear.
Newsom is enjoying the fruits of an overflowing state bank account and the reopening of California after the pandemic. The latest approval ratings from a May survey by the Public Policy Institute of California, found 57% of voters would vote “no” to recalling the Democratic governor.
Democrats in the Legislature recently voted to change the elections code to allow the recall election to be scheduled sooner. The Department of Finance sent its final cost estimate to state leaders Thursday morning, with the price tag estimated at around $276 million. Hours later, the secretary of state’s office sent notice to Kounalakis certifying the petition, with its 1.7 million valid signatures.
In a statement, Kounalakis said she believed Sept. 14 to be a “fair and reasonable date” for the recall.
“It has always been my intention to choose an election date that gives election officials and the public ample time to ensure a smooth election with broad participation,” she said. “Conducting this election on September 14 fulfills my statutory requirements, and provides the time needed for officials to prepare and inform voters.”
Previously, state law mandated that the Joint Legislative Budget Committee take 30 days to consider the recall cost, a strategy Democrats enacted four years ago to delay the recall of State Sen. Josh Newman.
But just this week, Democrats rolled back that provision with Assembly Bill 152, which allows Legislative leaders to bypass the review if they have already allocated funds for counties, which they did in the recent budget. The result is a sooner-than-expected recall election, which some say will benefit the embattled governor.
Under a provision approved earlier this year, all registered California voters will receive a mail ballot for the election, similar to the 2020 presidential election.
A recall election acts like a ballot measure in California. Voters will see two questions on their ballot. The first will ask whether Newsom should be removed. Voters will mark “yes” or “no.”
The second question will ask voters to choose a replacement in the event Newsom is removed. In 2003, more than 130 candidates signed up to run in the recall of Davis. This time around, fewer candidates have thrown their hats in the recall ring. Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, 2018 candidate John Cox, former GOP Rep. Doug Ose and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner have all announced their intentions to run against Newsom.
But unless more than 50% of voters choose “yes” on question one, Newsom will remain in office for the rest of his term.
One remaining question is whether Newsom will have a “Democrat” next to his name on the recall ballot. Newsom is suing Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, his hand-picked appointee, over a filing error that would omit his party preference from the ballot. Newsom approached Weber to change the error in June, according to court filings, but the office declined to correct it.
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(The Sacramento Bee's Sophia Bollag contributed to this report.)
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