Mr. Newsom said that six would-be recalls have been floated since he was elected in November 2018, but that “this one appears to have the requisite signatures.”
“We’re taking it seriously,” Mr. Newsom said. “I have to do my job every single day, but I’m going to fight this thing because I’m going to fight for California values and the things I hold dear and I think the vast majority of Californians regardless of their political stripes hold dear.”
The Democratic governor launched Monday the anti-recall campaign Stop the Republican Recall, calling it a “naked partisan power grab” and linking it to extremist groups, which the recall group blasted as a “smear campaign.”