Five Points On The Recall Effort Dogging Gov. Gavin Newsom In California Gov. Gavin Newsom (TPM Illustration/Getty Images) May 3, 2021 3:56 p.m. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is staring down a recall effort that will likely lead to an election for his political survival sometime before the end of the year. Organizers have collected over 1.6 million verified signatures to get the recall on the ballot, surpassing the roughly 1.5 million they needed. There are still months of procedural hoops to jump through, but it seems certain that this effort won’t die on the vine like its predecessors. Here’s a quick and dirty guide to how Newsom landed himself in such hot water.