California's Governor Gavin Newsom's chance of getting recalled has risen since the campaign to recall him reached the 1.5 million signature threshold on Friday, bookmakers have said.
On February 12, organizers for "Recall Gavin 2020" said they have surpassed the 1.5 million signatures required to place the proposal on this year's ballot. Once the signatures are verified and approved, the recall election would happen sometime over the summer.
Betfair has said the chances of Newsom being recalled stand at 2-1. A week ago, before the campaign hit its target, the odds were at 5-1.
William Hill placed the odds at 5-2 for Newsom getting recalled.
In terms of who will win California Governor election in 2022 if the recall isn't successful, Betfair does not rank Newsom as favorite. Chamath Palihapitiya is ranked as favorite at 5-4, followed by Newsom at 6-4. Dakota Vaughn follows at 10-1, then Daniel Mercuri at 12-1, Errol Webber at 16-1 and Major Williams at 16-1. The favourite, Palihapitiya, is a Sri Lankan-Canadian-American venture capitalist, who was previously a senior executive at Facebook. He has openly supported the effort to unseat Newsom.
The campaign to recall Newsom began in July last year. Supporters of the recall had until March 17 to collect the 1,495,709 signatures required for a recall election. However, a surplus of signatures may be required to ensure it meets the threshold set by state officials.
Recall supporters have criticized Newsom for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, tax increases, abolishing capital punishment, rising crime and lack of affordable housing. The official became the focus of public outrage when he was caught dining with friends at an upmarket restaurant in November—seated closely together and without masks—after telling Californians to avoid social gatherings and stay home to avoid risk of spreading the coronavirus.
Democratic President Joe Biden opposes the effort to recall the California governor.
In a tweet on February 10, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki noted that Biden and Newsom share interests in addressing climate change and the coronavirus pandemic.
On February 3, the Biden administration announced that the federal government would open its first vaccination sites in California.
The sites, which will be staffed mostly with federal employees, will be in Oakland and Los Angeles, near communities that have been badly impacted by the pandemic. One site will be in the Oakland Coliseum where the Oakland Athletics baseball team plays while the other will be on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles.
The western state has been badly hit by the pandemic—more than 47,000 people have died with COVID-19 in California.
