After the debate and controversy that has occured over the span of several months,starting from June 10, 2020, a Newsom recall election may finally happen,

In the past few years, there have been six attempts to recall Gavin Newsom. The current attempt to recall Newsom has a major potential. By March 2nd, when it was due, a petition has reportedly reached 2.1 million signatures, surpassing its required goal of 1.4 million.

In opposition to Governor Gavin Newsom are three challengers so far: former Republican mayor of San Diego Kevin Faulconer, Republican John Cox, and Republican Doug Ose.

California has had 179 recall elections happen since 1913. While there have been many attempts, chances of a petition actually coming into fruition areslim, as out of the hundreds of recall elections, only ten recall elections were able to gather the required amount of signatures. There was only one previously successful governor recall, which was when Democrat Gray Davis was replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, back in 2003.

As elected officials reviewing the current petition are finding most signatures valid, it’s on its way to making the Newsom recall election a reality.

Once everything is given the green light, the recall election that takes place will ask voters to answer whether or not they believe the elected official—in this case, Governor Gavin Newsom—should be replaced before his term ends, along with who they would vote for as a replacement. If a majority says yes, then the person with the most votes will take the position.

Although the recall election has a likely chance of happening, it will be an uphill battle for Newsom to be recalled and replaced. California as a whole is highly Democratic, which means that Replicans would have to fight very hard to win an election in a state the opposing party holds.

“If this is simply branded as a Republican effort, the likelihood of success is very slim,” says Tim Rosales, a Republican consultant, according to an Associated Press article.

Governor Gavin Newsom has created a petition in response to the recall election, called “Stop the Republican Recall.”

“I won’t be distracted by this partisan, Republican recall – but I will fight it,” says Newsom on Twitter.