An effort to remove California Gov. Gavin Newsom from office accrued over $2.5 million in funding as activists near the required amount of signatures to place a formal recall on the ballot, financial disclosures showed.
Leaders of the petition announced Jan. 26 that they had obtained roughly 1.2 million signatures from the California public out of a required total of 1.5 million to formalize the move. A superior court in November 2020 extended the deadline to amass the signers to March 17 after organizers said the coronavirus hampered their effort to distribute forms to residents.
Republican lawyer and former lead counsel for a group that successfully recalled Gov. Gray Davis, Thomas Hiltachk, told the Los Angeles Times "it's quite possible" that Newsom could face a removal effort, adding that the required amount of money for such an undertaking hovers in the range of $3 million to $4 million.
Backers of former President Donald Trump were among the donors, including Geoffrey Palmer, who gave $2 million to the Republican's campaign in 2016, according to Federal Election Commission data.
The largest donor was John Kruger, an entrepreneur and activist for education reform, who funneled $500,000 into the recall effort after he posited that Newsom violated constitutional liberties when he shuttered centers of worship during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, a spokesperson for the businessman told the Los Angeles Times.
Activists cited numerous reasons they seek to end Newsom's time as a leader in the Golden State.
"Laws he endorsed favor foreign nationals, in our country illegally, over that of our own citizens," leaders of the petition said in specifying their grievances with the governor. "People in this state suffer the highest taxes in the nation, the highest homelessness rates, and the lowest quality of life as a result. He has imposed sanctuary state status and fails to enforce immigration laws. He unilaterally over-ruled the will of the people regarding the death penalty. He seeks to impose additional burdens on our state by the following; removing the protections of Proposition 13, rationing our water use, increasing taxes and restricting parental rights."
Approximately one-third of residents indicated they would support ousting the Democrat if the ballot measure was approved, according to a Tuesday poll from the University of California, Berkeley.
Newsom lifted a stay-at-home order that mandated residents remain indoors if they aren't partaking in essential activities in areas where intensive care unit capacity dipped below 15%. The directive also limited service in restaurants, bars, barbershops, and other service industries.
