California to vote on whether to recall governor

Californians will vote on Tuesday to decide whether to remove the state's governor in a rare recall election.

If a majority of voters vote "yes", then Gavin Newsom, Democratic governor of the most populous US state with the nation's largest economy, will be removed from office.

Ballots were mailed to all 22 million registered voters in the state about a month before Tuesday's election, which cost the state $276 million. Voters can cast ballots in person, by mail or return them to a secure drop box by 8 pm Tuesday, when polls close.

Recent polls showed voters favored keeping Newsom as governor. The "Keep" is polling at an average of 57.5 percent, and "Remove" was polling at an average of 40.8 percent on Monday, according to FiveThirtyEight's polling average. But the website that focuses on opinion poll analysis also said it's still possible Newsom won't survive.

US President Joe Biden arrived in Sacramento on Monday to assess the wildfires in Northern California. He was scheduled to campaign with Newsom in Long Beach on the eve of the special election. The arrival of Biden was more of a sign that Newsom was worried he could lose, Republican strategist Tab Berg told CBS.

Newsom was inaugurated in 2019. His term ends on Jan 2, 2023. The recall effort was started by a retired sheriff's sergeant in Yolo County in June 2020.

The original recall petition references the death penalty, homelessness, high taxes, housing costs and other issues that conservatives have long criticized about California.

But it became focused on the COVID-19 pandemic after Newsom was caught on camera at a birthday party in November without a mask at The French Laundry in the Napa Valley wine country, one of the most expensive restaurants in the US in November.

At that time, California was at the height of the pandemic with restrictions in place. The state required universal masking and social distancing in indoor and public places. California was considered the state with the strictest restrictions, and conservatives have been particularly vexed by the Democratic governance during the pandemic.

Newsom apologized for attending the dinner, saying he "made a bad mistake" and acknowledged that "the spirit of what I'm preaching all the time was contradicted".

Despite his apologies, signatures for the recall campaign began pouring in after photos capturing him at the party were widely circulated. On the recall campaign's website now, "The French Laundry incident" tops the list of reasons to remove Newsom, though its original petition didn't reference the pandemic.

The opponents of Newsom got 1.7 million signatures to qualify the recall for the ballot, above the 1.5 million needed. Because of the pandemic, the period was extended, so the opponents had four more months than usual to collect signatures.

There are 46 people running for the office, including 24 Republicans. The conservative radio host, Larry Elder, has emerged as the front-running challenger.

Elder accused the Newsom administration of "chaos, failure and corruption" in a Twitter post two days ahead of the election. He has promised that his first moves as governor would be to repeal Newsom's pandemic policies.

Every governor in California has faced a recall attempt, but only two have qualified for the ballot. The previous recall in 2003 resulted in actor Arnold Schwarzenegger becoming governor. Newsom has faced at least five attempts.

It's rare for such recalls to qualify for the ballot. Prior to Newsom, only four recalls of governors qualified for the ballot in the US, and only two governors lost their recall elections in the US history.