Hundreds of Thousands of Fed Up Californians Sign Petition To End Gov. Newsom's Reign
An effort to recall Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and trigger a special election has seen a significant increase in interest over the last week, organizers said.
The Recall Gavin Newsom Campaign has seen increased traffic on its website, an uptick in signatures and more inquiries, California Patriot Coalition founder Mike Netter told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The California Patriot Coalition is funded by the California Revival political action committee and John Cox, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully against Newsom in 2018.
Netter said that calling increased interest in the recall effort a “spike” would be an understatement.
“[Newsom] is running California badly,” Newsom said. “There’s a lack of leadership.”
“He’s ruining the biggest economy in the world,” he continued.
Photos released Wednesday showed Newsom attending an indoor gathering without a mask at a restaurant in Napa Valley, California, apparently in violation of his government’s own coronavirus guidelines.
Newsom apologized for attending the gathering, which was later revealed to have included California Medical Association officials.
EXCLUSIVE: We’ve obtained photos of Governor Gavin Newsom at the Napa dinner party he’s in hot water over. The photos call into question just how outdoors the dinner was. A witness who took photos tells us his group was so loud, the sliding doors had to be closed. 10pm on @FOXLA pic.twitter.com/gtOVEwa864
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) November 18, 2020
The recall effort has received roughly 750,000 physical signatures from California residents since it began in June, which is more than half the amount required to trigger a gubernatorial special election, Netter told the DCNF.
Campaign organizers have until March 17, 2021, to collect 1,495,709 signatures, or 12 percent of the votes cast for Newsom in 2018.
The campaign originally had until Nov. 17 to reach the required number of signatures, but a judge granted an extension due to coronavirus measures.
Court filings showed that the campaign had collected roughly 675,000 signatures as of Oct. 15.
The campaign was triggered by several policies that Newsom implemented in his first term in office, including granting clemency to convicted felons and maintaining California as a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants.
The campaign has also cited rising homelessness as an impetus for its efforts.
The California Republican Party and Libertarian Party have both endorsed the campaign.
Republican California Rep. Darrell Issa joined organizers in a virtual town hall in September.
“I’m on this call because I’m excited to see that this is a honestly run program that has a real chance,” Issa said.
“I didn’t get on earlier recalls because I saw them as divided, I saw them as self-serving and I don’t see that now. I see the kind of team that could make this happen.”
The campaign is the sixth effort to recall Newsom since he was inaugurated in 2019, according to the office of California Secretary of State Alex Padilla.
The only time a recall effort has succeeded in California history was in 2003, when Democratic Gov. Gray Davis was ousted and replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
A spokesperson for Padilla’s office wouldn’t comment on the recall effort.
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A version of this article appeared on the Daily Caller News Foundation website.
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