A recall effort to remove Gov. Gavin Newsom from office is getting closer and closer to going in front of voters.
Supporters of the recall need about 1.5 million signatures to trigger an election and now say they are only about 50,000 signatures shy of that goal, with more than a month until the deadline.
The signatures will need to be verified by the state, so the recall campaign will need to gather significantly more than 1.5 million in order to ensure that they have enough to proceed. But the recall, which started off as a long shot Republican-led campaign in a heavily Democratic state is now looking more likely.
Although Gov. Newsom’s performance with respect to the pandemic has been the primary push for his recall, Orrin Heatlie, who’s leading the campaign told CBS13 in Sacramento: "There are a lot of things that have driven the recall forward."
Heatlie added that business owners and senior citizens are two of the biggest groups supporting the campaign.
A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies survey found that Gov. Newsom slumped to just 46 percent of voter approval.
That compares with 60 percent backing just four months ago.
"Thirty-six percent of voters say they would vote 'yes' to recall the governor and 45 percent would vote 'no' to keep him in office," poll director Mark DiCamillo told KNX 1070 News. "But a very large 19 percent said they were not sure and that includes 20 percent of Democrats and 28 percent of no party preference voters, so I think a number of voters are just waiting to see how things play out."
In recent weeks, Gov. Newsom has tapped Democratic leaders from across the state to lend their support and stand by his side during press briefings, and the White House has now issued its opposition to the recall effort, signs that the governor is growing nervous.
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