A group of Republicans involved in the failed 2021 recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday they are planning another attempt to remove him from office, a longshot that would require more than 1.3 million valid voter signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Rescue California, which ran a campaign in support of the 2021 attempt to recall Newsom, is the leading supporter of the new effort, said Anne Dunsmore, campaign director for Rescue California. Dunsmore said the group planned to deliver the recall papers to Newsom's office on Monday, Politico first reported.
He pointed to California's huge budget deficit and what he described as Newsom's focus on campaigning for Democrats in other states as reasons why voters should support recall.
“It's not a good time for him to go,” Dunsmore said. “But if she's going to leave, we'll kick him out.”
Newsom has set the state budget deficit at $37.9 billion. The Legislative Analyst's Office, which provides fiscal and policy advice to the state Legislature, released an updated estimate this month that suggests the shortfall is more than double that amount.
Newsom dismissed the latest impeachment attempt as an effort by Republicans to divert attention from his unpopular push to restrict abortion and support former President Trump's bid to return to the White House.
“Trump Republicans are launching another wasteful campaign to distract us from the existential fight for democracy and reproductive freedom,” Newsom said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “We will defeat them.”
The governor has been raising money for Democrats in other states ahead of the November elections and actively campaigning for President Biden's re-election. On Sunday he returned from Washington, where he attended a meeting with other governors and the president and participated in national television interviews as a surrogate for the Biden campaign.
The new recall effort would be among more than a half-dozen attempts to unseat Newsom since he took office in January 2019. All but the 2021 recall campaign, led by retired Yolo County Sheriff's Sergeant Orrin Heatlie , did not qualify for the state ballot. .
California election law requires recall petitioners to gather valid signatures from at least 12% of the total number of registered voters who participated in the last gubernatorial election to force a statewide election. They have 160 days to collect signatures.
Supporters of the previous recall effort seized on Newsom's decision to attend a dinner at the French Laundry in Napa Valley on Nov. 6, 2020, as an example of hypocrisy from a governor who at that point in the COVID-19 pandemic had advised to Californians. to avoid indoor gatherings with other households.
That same day, the coronavirus dealt another key blow to Newsom's campaign when a judge gave recall petitioners another four months to gather voter signatures. The pandemic had hampered efforts to collect signatures outside grocery stores, and advocates successfully asked the court for more time in a decision that was not challenged by the California Secretary of State's Office.
The emergence of right-wing conservative Larry Elder as a surrogate candidate helped boost Newsom's campaign to remain in office. Final results showed that 61.9% of voters rejected the recall, while 38.1% supported the effort to remove Newsom from office in September 2021.
Dunsmore said this time the recall campaign needs fewer signatures to qualify for the ballot. He said he also plans to mail petitions to the same volunteers who circulated them last time.
“We don't have to restart it at all,” he said. “In fact, we can use the resources we accumulated over a period of time last time. “We don’t have to spend so much money.”
A spokesperson for Newsom said the governor and his team are taking the new effort seriously. Newsom reported $11.8 million in cash in his state officeholder account at the end of the latest reporting period that ended Dec. 31.
State elected officials targeted by recall campaigns can raise money to defeat the effort without being subject to normal contribution limits in California.
Newsom immediately seized on the recall campaign as an opportunity to raise money. Shortly after noon Monday, the governor's fundraising team sent out an email asking supporters to donate to help him get through impeachment and prevent “some far-right anti-science, anti- woman to become governor of California.
“These Trump Republicans are targeting Governor Newsom because he is defending democracy and fighting for the re-election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” Newsom spokesman Nathan Click said in a statement. “He's not going to be distracted from that fight. “Democracy is on the ballot and he will continue to fight.”
