On September 14, 2021, California will hold a recall election for Californians to decide whether to keep Governor Gavin Newsom in office or to replace him.

Usually, governors are elected and serve 4 year terms; however, if the people of that state believe that their governor (or any state official) is not fit for office, they can call for a recall election. For a recall election to begin, people must create a petition where at least 12% of the voters from the previous election sign it.

In a recall election, the voter answers two questions: if they believe the current official belongs in office and who should replace them if they are recalled. If a majority of the voters calls for a recall, the person with the most votes in the second question will become the new office holder.

In the past, there has only been one California governor recall election that has succeeded--the recall of Governor Gray Davis in 2003, who was succeeded by Arnold Schwartznegger. In the 2003 election, there were 135 candidates to replace Davis; in Newsom’s recall election, there are 46 contenders, 9 Democrats and 24 Republicans. Out of these 46, the most popular is Larry Elder, a Republican radio talk show host, with an average of 27.6% on election polls according to FiveThirtyEight.

The petitioners and voters believe that Governor Newsom has turned his back on California during COVID-19 and has not helped with California’s major issues, such as its homelessness rate. Newsom says that this election is a “Republican recall — backed by the RNC, anti-mask and anti-vax extremists, and pro-Trump forces who want to overturn the last election and have opposed much of what we have done to fight the pandemic.”

Current polls say that Newsom will win the election and stay in office, but if voter turnout is low, Newsom may be replaced very soon. What do you think about Governor Newsom and his chances in office?

by Kevin Lee