Newsom Admits for First Time That Recall Will Likely Be on Ballot as Campaign Nets 2.1M Names

The recall effort against California Governor Gavin Newsom hit a major milestone this week, submitting more than enough signatures to send the issue to a statewide ballot.

According to The Los Angeles Times, the Democratic leader acknowledged for the first time this week that it appears voters will be able to determine whether or not he stays in office.

"Well, the reality is it looks like it's going on the ballot, and so we're ready to go," Newsom said of the recall effort at a news conference Tuesday. "We will fight it. We will defeat it."

The campaign to recall Newsom gained 2,117,730 signatures by Wednesday's deadline, according to a report from Politico. State officials must verify at least 1,495,709 signatures in order for the recall to move forward.

Newsom has faced several efforts to oust him from office since he was first elected to serve in California's top position in 2019.

"Just in 25 months there's been six efforts to put a recall on the ballot. This one appears to have the requisite signatures," Newsom said during an appearance on ABC's The View earlier this week. "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."

Newsom told the hosts of The View that "of course" he was worried about the recall effort and said he was "taking it seriously."

Newsom's newly created anti-recall website identifies such political figures as Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker as allies in pushing back against the recall campaign. The White House has also said President Joe Biden also "clearly opposes" the recall push.

In mounting a defense against the recall, Newsom has accused right-wing militia groups like the Proud Boys of initiating the effort. On his website, the California governor said the campaign is led by "a partisan, Republican coalition of national Republicans, anti-vaxxers, QAnon conspiracy theorists and anti-immigrant Trump supporters."

David Gilliard, a GOP consultant working on the recall effort, broke down the party identification of the signatories in a tweet on Wednesday. According to the figures, 64 percent were Republicans, 25 percent had no party preference, 9 percent were Democrats, and 1.6 percent fell into the "other" category.

Newsweek has reached out to Newsom's office for further comment on the recall, but did not receive a response prior to publication.