The official recall campaign against California Governor Gavin Newsom has now gathered more than 1,927,000 signatures, organizers announced on Wednesday evening. Organizers have until March 17 to gather signatures.
A total of 1,497,709 valid signatures must be collected and verified to trigger the recall election. Election officials have until April 29 to verify them.
The announcement was made during an online meeting with campaign leaders who are, among other things, dissatisfied with the governors handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Orrin Heatlie, Chairman of the California Patriot Coalition, RecallGavin2020 Committee said, “We have cleared another milestone, and now we are entering the final stretch of this part of the official campaign to remove California Governor Gavin Newsom from power and office.”
“The people of California are speaking loud and clear, and we will continue to work tirelessly until the People of California become the final judge and jury on this recall,” said RecallGavin2020 co-proponent Mike Netter.
On February 19, the campaign claimed to have 1.7 million signatures and had delivered 1,094,457 to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, her office confirmed. Of those signatures 668,202 had been verified by local election officials, a process which must take place before they can be counted. About 140,000 additional signatures were found to be invalid.
Recall organizers have indicated they would like to submit 2 million signatures to ensure there are enough valid entires to guarantee success. The leaders of the effort say they have seen a relatively high rate of verification. If that holds true, it would mean 2 million signatures should be more than enough.
When asked about the recall, Newsom has repeatedly demurred, saying he was focusing on the work before him as governor.
Newsom, in what amounts to a political counteroffensive, has been barnstorming the state for weeks opening mass vaccination sites and appearing with local officials who have extolled his leadership. But many of the governor’s appearances have been off-camera, an unusual occurrence for the charismatic Newsom.
In fact, when he announced the news that seven counties in the state were moving to less restrictive tier of his Covid-19 reopening plan this week, Newsom did so at an event that was not publicly livestreamed. That’s a big change for Newsom, who generally doesn’t mind engaging with the media, especially when he has positive news.
The governor’s office announced on Wednesday that he will appear on camera next week to deliver his third State of the State Address on Tuesday in a virtual presentation to the California Legislature from Los Angeles County.