President Biden rejects efforts to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the White House said.
With a petition in the Golden State gaining traction with more than 1 million signatures, White House press secretary Jen Psaki issued a brief statement about her boss’s support for the Democratic governor.
“In addition to sharing a commitment to a range of issues with @GavinNewsom from addressing the climate crisis to getting the pandemic under control, @POTUS clearly opposes any effort to recall @GavinNewsom,” Psaki tweeted Tuesday.
In addition to sharing a commitment to a range of issues with @GavinNewsom from addressing the climate crisis to getting the pandemic under control, @POTUS clearly opposes any effort to recall @GavinNewsom
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) February 9, 2021
Earlier at the daily press briefing, Psaki told reporters she would get back to them after being asked whether Biden had a position on the matter regarding a petition aimed at recalling the California governor.
The petition is led by retired Yolo County Deputy Sheriff Orrin Heatlie, who claims he has received more than 1.4 million signatures toward the goal of achieving 2 million in hopes to submit the responses by March 17 to place a recall question on the state’s election ballot in November.
While the recall campaign started with momentum largely built by Republican voters in the state, more Democratic voters from California have begun showing support for the recall of Newsom in response to lingering pandemic measures keeping some businesses and schools closed and a slower-than-expected vaccine rollout.
As of Monday, almost 10% of petitions were submitted by registered Democrats, and nearly one-quarter were signed by voters unaffiliated with any political party, with an overwhelming majority of 66.5% coming from Republicans.
Newsom is up for reelection in 2022 but is up against rising criticism from Republican voters in the state. His approval rating has dropped from 64% in September to just 46% in late January, according to a poll conducted by the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies.
Although some experts say the momentum behind the petition gives it a good chance of making it on the ballot for November, it faces long odds in the heavily Democratic state.
The California secretary of state’s office released a chart last week showing it had verified 410,000 signatures organizers had delivered so far, and they need around 1.5 million signatures to pass a verification process to approve the ballot measure.
