A campaign formed to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) received a $500,000 donation this week, the first six-figure contribution to the effort thus far.
A consulting firm based in Irvine called Prov 3:9 offered its donation of half-a-million dollars towards the efforts to generate a recall election of the governor in response to Newsom’s handling of coronavirus pandemic measures, Politico reported.
A separate venture capital firm Sequoia Capital also contributed a $100,000 donation towards the recall campaign’s efforts, further solidifying the effort’s potential, marking the two largest donations it has received to date.
The recall election has been promoted by conservative actors, including former Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox and the California Republican Party. Other notable GOP figures, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, have endorsed efforts to bring forth a recall election for Newsom.
Some California constituents organized a petition for a recall dubbed Rescue California in response to public disagreements with Newsom’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Part of the governor’s pandemic safety restrictions included forcing in-person, indoor dining at restaurants to shutter, generating dozens of business owner complaints alleging the measures are putting them out of business or causing them to struggle to stay afloat.
In response to the complaints, Newsom announced in late November a $500 million grant giving immediate tax relief for businesses that apply for the program.
The Hill reached out to Newsom’s office but did not immediately receive a response.
The recall aims to bring about a special election earlier than Newsom’s next slated gubernatorial election in November 2022, as the governor is still in his first term. Newsom has not yet said whether he intends to run for office again, Fox News reported.
Some dissenters of Newsom’s measures were ignited in frustrations over his leadership after the governor attended a birthday dinner at a prestigious restaurant in the midst of his controversial pandemic orders.
Newsom apologized to the public in November, saying, “I made a bad mistake … The spirit of what I’m preaching all the time was contradicted.”
A judge offered proponents of the recall an additional three months to collect around 1.5 million signatures needed to certify a recall, Politico added in its report.
Signature gatherers have said they have roughly 800,000 people who have supported the effort already, though would likely need nearly 2 million signatures to ensure enough are deemed valid.
Californians have attempted to recall their governor over 50 times in history, though only succeeded once in 2003 against Gov. Gray Davis (D), who lost his special election to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R).