In the second-ever recall election which reached the ballot in California, Governor of California Gavin Newsom won the recall election in a landslide with 63.9% of votes. To this day, Arnold Schwarzenegger is the only candidate who won the recall election against the incumbent Governor in California, where he outran the incumbent Governor Gray Davis to the ballot in 2003. With only two incumbent Governors ever successfully recalled in the history of the United States, Governor Newsom survived his recall election with 63.9% voting “no” to the question “Shall GAVIN NEWSOM be recalled (removed) from the office of Governor?” For those voters who voted “yes” to the question, they had the choice to pick a candidate to replace the incumbent governor by filling the box next to the name. Amongst the 53 candidates who ran against Governor Newsom, Republican candidate Larry Elder received the most vote with 47% of the 36.1% “yes” vote, raking in 2.4 million votes. The special election first took its shape from a fringe section of the Republican Party back in February 2020, but was soon mainstreamed to the whole California Republican Party. To request a recall election against the incumbent Governor of California requires a petition of a minimum of 12% of the signatures from the previous California Gubernatorial election. After such a petition was successfully conducted, the Secretary of State of California approved and conducted the election as outlined in the California Constitution (Article II, Section 13-19). However, such a recall election raised the eyebrows of many, who are now questioning the legitimacy of such recall elections due to the potential disruption to democracy. While many questions were raised, the special election took place on September 14, 2021, where Governor Newsom won and will continue the remaining term as the Governor of California.
The Liberal Conservative 