Newsom Recall Election Officially Happening: What To Know

CALIFORNIA — California Gov. Gavin Newsom will face a recall election sometime in the late summer or early fall, officials confirmed. (Scroll down to take our Patch survey.)

Enough signatures were submitted to initiate the recall election process, state elections officials announced Wednesday.

A total of 43 signatures were withdrawn statewide from petitions to recall Newsom; the remaining 1,719,900 verified signatures still met the threshold to initiate a recall election, according to elections officials.

A sufficient number of verified recall signatures had previously been reached by recall proponents in April, elections officials said. In accordance with California election law, voters had a 30-day period — from April 26 to June 8 — to request county officials remove their signatures from recall petitions.

Read the results of our recent survey about the recall election: Should Gavin Newsom Be Recalled? Patch Readers Are Split

Next Steps

Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s letter to the Department of Finance triggered the next phase of the recall process, in which the department will estimate the cost of the gubernatorial recall if it is held as a special election and if it is held as part of the next regularly scheduled election.

Estimated costs for the recall election must be submitted to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the secretary of state and the chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee by Aug. 5. The committee has 30 days to review and comment, after which time the secretary of state will certify the sufficiency of signatures.

The next step could fall to the state's Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis.

A recall election must be held between 60 and 80 days from the date the secretary of state certifies that it has qualified unless there is a regularly scheduled statewide election within 180 days.

Unofficially, seven candidates have expressed interest in running in the recall election. But it's unclear what the final ballot will look like. Candidates have to take several steps to get on the ballot, including paying a $3,916.12 filing fee and submitting at least 7,000 signatures, according to the secretary of state.

The election will likely pit Newsom against a variety of Republican hopefuls. No prominent Democrat has announced any plans to run, and Newsom cannot run to replace himself on the recall ballot.

Newsom has vowed to fight recall efforts and launched a counter-campaign called "Stop the Republican Recall" in March. He referred to the recall as an effort backed by extremists, right-wing activists and vaccination opponents.

"I won't be distracted by this partisan Republican recall — but I will fight it," he said. "There is too much at stake."

Who Plans To Run In The Recall Election?

No official candidates have been announced yet, but Caitlyn Jenner, John Cox, Kevin Faulconer, Doug Ose, Angelyne, Mary Carey and Sam Gallucci have all expressed interest. Ric Grenell has also teased running for California governor.

What's A Recall?

California has had recall elections as part of its political system since 1911. The process allows the public to attempt to remove an elected public official from office before the end of his term. Before a recall election can be initiated, a certain number of voters must sign a recall petition within a specified amount of time.

The state has had 54 previous attempts to recall California governors. Only one governor has been recalled in California's history: Gray Davis in 2003.

SEE MORE:

• Scientists Reveal Major DDT Pollution Along Los Angeles Coast
• CA Democrats Propose $215M To Expedite Newsom Recall Election
• CA Recall Election: Who Is Running?