With more than 5.6 million California residents rejecting the recall effort, nearly 35%, or some 3 million people, sought to remove Newsom from office.
In April, California residents, upset over Newsom's lockdown and draconian measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic, as well as economic policies and other issues, gathered 1.6 million signatures on a petition to recall him. The state's Elections Office set 14 September as the date for the gubernatorial recall election.
California is the only US state that has ever succeeded in recalling its governor — in 2003, Gray Davis was replaced by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.