Calif. Secretary of State Shirley Weber confirmed 1,719,943 petition signatures in an effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The state had until June 22 to confirm the signatures in case any were withdrawn, but only 43 people did so, meaning the threshold of 1,495,709 signatures were still met to move forward with the election.

The state Department of Finance will estimate the cost of the recall, which is estimated to be 215.2 million, according to a department spokesperson who spoke with CNN.

While a date for the recall election has not been announced, it must take place within 60 to 80 days of the signatures being confirmed.

The “Recall Gavin” campaign began on June 10, 2020, fueled by a moment where Newsom was photographed eating at an indoor restaurant when COVID-19 regulations advised against it.

“To him there’s rules for everybody else and then there’s rules for him,” Randy Economy, the “Recall Gavin” campaign’s senior advisor told L.A. Weekly. “It’s the arrogance of power and he doesn’t care for the average person in California. He cares about living in his own political bubble.”

When the election occurs, California voters will be asked two questions, the first being if the voter believes Gov. Newsom should be recalled, and the second asking for a successor.

If the first question receives a majority vote to recall Gov. Newsom, the candidate with the most votes in the second question would win the election.

sample recall ballot

(Sample ballot from 2003 Gray Davis recall election.)

Multiple candidates for governor have emerged, capped by the most recent announcement of candidacy from former Olympic gold medalist and TV personality Caitlyn Jenner.

John Cox, who ran against Newsom in the 2018 elections and announced that he would also run in a recall election, said “the people are speaking and they are being heard.”

If a new governor is elected, they would serve until January 2, 2023, finishing out Newsom’s term until the next election takes place in Nov. of 2022.

Newsom did launch a counter campaign, saying he would “not be distracted by republicans.”

“This Republican recall threatens our values and seeks to undo the important progress we’ve made — from fighting COVID, to helping struggling families, protecting our environment, and passing commonsense gun violence solutions,” Newsom said when first addressing the recall in March. “There’s too much at stake.”

This will be the second governor recall election in California history, with the first coming in 2003 when Gov. Gray Davis was recalled and replaced by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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