On July 1, California’s Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis announced that a special recall election seeking to remove California Governor Gavin Newsom will take place on Sept. 14. The announcement came after Secretary of State Shirley Weber confirmed 1,719,900 valid signatures–far more than the 1,495,709 required to trigger a recall–were collected by the campaign to recall Newsom from office before his term ends in 2023. Nearly 60 candidates have filed to run in the recall election, including former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, 2018 gubernatorial candidate John Cox, former U.S. Rep. Doug Ose, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, and Caitlyn Jenner. At the Tour d’Elegance car show on June 20, Jenner promoted her campaign for the gubernatorial recall election wearing a hat that read “Caitlyn for California” on the front. While every California governor since Ronald Reagan has faced a recall effort, most are unsuccessful, failing to collect the number of signatures needed to qualify. The only one that did make it to the ballot took place in 2003, when Governor Gray Davis was recalled a few months into his second term and replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Newsom is the second governor in the state’s history to face a recall ballot.
On Sept. 14, California voters will have the option to vote “yes” or “no” to the question of whether to remove Newsom from office, and an opportunity to select a replacement candidate. Votes cast for a successor candidate will only be counted if more than 50 percent of voters casting ballots in the recall election vote to recall the Newsom.
