By Brian Brant
(LOS ANGELES) The effort to remove California's Democratic governor became official Monday when state officials announced that the petition to oust Gavin Newsom had secured 1.6 million valid signatures.
NBC News reports organizers needed 1.5 million signatures and that the recall election won't occur likely until the fall.
Organizers have been mounting a recall campaign against Newsom for months, spurred by the state's COVID-19 restrictions, and other issues.
Secretary of state Shirley Weber's announcement comes days after former Olympian, transgender advocate and reality television star Caitlyn Jenner announced her campaign against Newsom.
“For the past decade, we have seen the glimmer of the Golden State reduced by one-party rule that places politics over progress and special interests over people," she said in her announcement. "Sacramento needs an honest leader with a clear vision.
NBC News reports former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and businessman John Cox, who previously ran against Newsom and lost by double digits in 2018, announced a run as well.
A recent poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan think tank, found that 56% of likely voters did not support the campaign.
Those who signed the petition now have 30 days to remove their name, if warranted. Then, the state's finance department will develop a cost estimate before Newsom's lieutenant governor sets a date for the election.
The most recent recall effort in California led then-actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to succeed Democrat Gray Davis as governor in 2003.