For Newsom’s Recall Challengers, Communication Is Key One obvious answer—social media—is only part of the overall strategy. “A recall election happens during a compressed period of time, giving candidates less time to get their message out and build a coalition,” media consultant Matt Dobler told The Epoch Times. Dobler has worked on many campaigns, and is currently consulting for candidate Sam Gallucci, a pastor from Oxnard. He said via email there would potentially be hundreds of candidates to fill Newsom’s position. “In a normal election, you have to get just over 50 percent of the vote to win, [but] in a special [election] you can win with significantly less than 50 percent,” he said.