Sen. Bernie Sanders is throwing his considerable weight behind Gov. Gavin Newsom, denouncing a campaign to recall Newsom that is picking up steam.
Sanders wrote on twitter Monday morning: "Right-wing Republicans in CA are trying to recall @GavinNewsom for the crime of telling people to wear masks and for listening to scientists during COVID. Extremist Republicans have done enough to undermine democracy already. We must all unite to oppose the recall in California."
His statement came soon after supporters of the recall movement announced they have gathered enough signatures to get the issue on the ballot.
"We’ve had 1,950,000 signatures. That is more than enough to have this initiative qualify," said Randy Economy, an advisor to the recall campaign Sunday.
Ballot initiatives need to get valid signatures from 12 percent of the electorate to qualify, which means the current requirement is just shy of 1.5 million. However, the signatures will need to be verified by local elections officials.
Economy said the group hopes to get to two million signatures by their March 17 deadline. Counties then have until the end of April to verify them.
If the recall advances, a special election will likely be held in the fall.
San Francisco Chronicle Senior Political Reporter Joe Garofoli told KCBS Radio that time is on Gov. Newsom’s side as the pandemic continues to improve.
“If people are feeling like things are coming back to normal and they’re seeing it in their daily lives, they might be less angry than they are now. And people are definitely angry.”
Gov. Newsom has said that he expects a majority of Californians will be out of the purple tier by the end of the month, with restaurants and schools reopening across the state.
"Then there’s the symbolic things like fans being the stands for baseball’s opening day. That’s like, 'Wow, we’re coming back to normal,'" said Garofoli.
Gov. Newsom will give his annual "State of the State" address Tuesday.
While he is not expected to address the recall directly, he has recruited Democratic leaders from all over the state to praise his handling of the pandemic over the last few weeks and tomorrow’s address could be another pitch to voters to keep him in the job.
A group of Black Democratic officials including East Bay Congresswoman Barbara Lee are scheduled to hold an event Monday denouncing the recall.
While the recall has picked up considerable support over the last few months in comparison to the initial tepid response, a recent poll shows that many of the state’s largely Democratic voters are still hesitant to give Newsom the boot without a compelling alternative.
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