Newsom recall officially triggered as verified signature threshold met

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The effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom has received the necessary number of verified signatures to trigger a recall election later this year.

The California Secretary of State said on Monday that the threshold of verified signatures reported by counties, which was set at 1,495,709, had been met.

The campaign collected more than 1.6 million verified signatures, according to the secretary of state’s office.

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"This now triggers the next phase of the recall process, a 30-business-day period in which voters may submit written requests to county Registrars of Voters to remove their names from the recall petition," Secretary Weber said in a statement. "A recall election will be held unless a sufficient number of signatures are withdrawn."

If after those 30 days the effort retains enough signatories, the Department of Finance will be given 30 days to estimate the cost of the recall election, and after that a budget committee will have 30 calendar days to review those estimates before the Lieutenant Governor sets the date for the election.

The recall ballot would ask voters to choose "yes" or "no" on the question of removing Newsom from office, followed by a selection of replacement candidates. More than 50% of voters would be required to "yes" to remove him. Then, the candidate with the most votes is elected governor.

A spokesperson for Newsom’s office did not return Fox News’ request for comment.

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Gold medal Olympian and reality show star Caitlyn Jenner threw her name into the ring to run as a Republican to replace Newsom. Jenner’s team includes several operatives that helped on President Donald Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns.

Other individuals who are running include businessman John Cox, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and former Rep. Doug Ose.

In a statement on Monday, Faulconer pointed to Newsom’s policies as a reason Californians are being "forced to leave their home state in droves" after the state lost a seat in the House of Representatives based on the updated 2020 Census data.

According to data from the California Secretary of State’s office, there have been 54 previous attempts to recall governors. Only one was successful – the recall of Gov. Gray Davis in 2003. Former bodybuilder and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was selected as his replacement.