California Governor Gavin Newsom has had a very difficult time during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Initially praised for its rapid response and effective measures, the state is now the hardest hit by the pandemic, and subsequent effects of the pandemic such as increasing homelessness and unemployment are rising.

As a response, some Californians have turned to a petition calling for the recall of Governor Newsom. Created on Jun. 10, 2020, the petition is required to have 1,495,709 signatures by Mar. 17, 2021. As of Jan. 22, 2021, the petition has over 1,100,000. The petition’s official website claims that Newsom has failed the citizens of California due to his actions throughout his term as Governor of California. The reasons that the petition lists include: expensive housing for the homeless, overregulation of business, encroachments on the first and second amendments, the former of which has been attributed to pandemic shutdowns, and failing schools.

The petition gained some attention back in December when both a wealthy couple from the Bay Area and an Orange County consulting firm donated a combined $600,000 to the campaign. However, it is unclear whether or not the money will actually reach the official petition. The donations were sent to a political action committee called Rescue California which assists with the recall, but does not actually lead the effort. This has led the senior advisor of the recall effort, Randy Economy, to call them “leeches” and suggested that Rescue California PAC may just use the money for their own interests or even pocket the money. This has been disputed by Rescue California’s co chair, Anne Dunsmore.

In response to these recall efforts, Governor Newsom released a statement calling it “an unwarranted recall effort” being pushed by“political extremists supporting president Trump’s hateful attacks on California.”

https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Gavin-Newsom-recall-donation-Rescue-California-PAC-15838924.php
https://recallgavin2020.com/