SACRAMENTO (KRON) – It’s official – Gov. Gavin Newsom will be facing a recall election.
California’s secretary of state on Wednesday announced it had reached 1,719,900 verified signatures – enough to meet the threshold to initiate a recall election.
Officials said while a sufficient number of verified recall signatures had been reached in April, voters were given a 30-day period from April 26 to June 8 to request county officials remove their signatures from recall petitions, in accordance with California law.
A total 43 signatures had been withdrawn statewide.
The letter sent to the Department of Finance today triggers the next phase of the recall process in which the DOGF will estimate the costs of the gubernatorial recall if its held as a special election, and if it is held as part of the next regularly scheduled election.
The recall against Newsom, a first-term Democrat seen as a possible White House hopeful someday, will be among the highest-profile political races in the country this year. He launched a campaign to fight the effort in March alongside endorsements from Democrats including U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. So far no other Democrats have jumped in to run against him.
If Newsom survives the recall he will be up for reelection in 2022.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.