Supporters of the recall said that they submitted more than 2.1 million signatures by the Wednesday deadline, a figure that far and away will exceed the number necessary to get the initiative on the fall ballot — even if some turn out not to be valid.
The Daily Caller adds:
Newsom himself acknowledged Tuesday that the recall effort would likely qualify, triggering what could be a wildly expensive race later this year to protect the Democratic governor’s seat in one of the bluest states in the country. Newsom, however, has promised to fight it and has blasted the effort to oust him, blaming it on right-wing extremists.
“The chief, the top 10 proponents, the people that are behind this are members of the Three Percenters – the right-wing militia group, the Proud Boys, supported the insurrection, are folks that quite literally enthusiastically support QAnon conspiracies, and so that’s the origin here,” Newsom told “The View” Tuesday.
Right; all 2.1-plus million signatures are the work of dastardly QAnon and III-percenter types because they are rife in California. It couldn’t be that millions of Californians are simply dissatisfied with “Gov. Lockdown” who violated his own rules to dine indoors at a fancy restaurant, maskless and without social distancing, last fall with wealthy donors or anything like that.
In any event, now comes the signature verification process. Fifty-eight county officials will look over what is submitted and toss out any that are deemed invalid. But so far, more than 83 percent of those counted have been validated, an approval rate that suggests there will be many more than than the 1.5 million needed to trigger the recall.
What’s more, Newsom already has challengers. Among them is San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer; 2018 GOP gubernatorial candidate John Cox; and former Republican Rep. Doug Ose, who just jumped in the race this week, the Daily Caller added.
GOP recall strategist Dave Gillard said Wednesday that people signing onto the recall petition were “64.10% GOP; 25.30% NPP (No Party Preference); 9.00% Dem; 1.60% Other and 49.48% Female.” He added that signatories who identify as Democrats were not sought by signature gatherers but decided to sign on their own.
“Our statewide movement has taken a giant step toward removing Gavin Newsom from office,” Faulconer told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Over 2.1 million Californians – Democrats, Republicans, and Independents – have signed this recall petition and made it clear that they are ready to turn the page on an elitist administration that has disregarded science while hurting millions of California families.”
Though Newsom is trying to spin the fact that he’s getting recalled, he has also admitted that he’s worried about the effort.
“Am I worried about it? Of course, I’m worried about it,” he told The View.
“I’ve only been in office 25 months, just 25 months there’s been six efforts to put a recall on the ballot. This one appears to have the requisite signatures. This started before the pandemic,” he said.
“If you look at the list of grievances from the proponents of this campaign, it goes to our values, it’s less about me, it’s more about California and our values, Democratic Party values,” he added.