What Went Down At The California Recall Election: Live Results

So does that mean that fears of future recall-paloozas in California might be a bit overblown, Nathaniel, if this effort was so far short of its mark when the original signature deadline rolled around?

It’s hard to say how much this might’ve impacted the recall, but it does feel like over the last few years, the state’s housing and homelessness crises have reached a boiling point. In the latest PPIC poll, 18 percent of respondents identified either homelessness or housing costs and availability as the top issue facing the state, making it the second-most important issue behind the COVID-19 pandemic. Republican candidates have honed in on Newsom’s handling of the state’s homelessness crisis, and other politicians in the state are facing recall attempts that cite their handling of the crisis. And after years of bills languishing in committee, the California state legislature passed a major zoning reform bill last month — the first major steps toward addressing the state’s housing crisis since then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed a package of bills in 2017.

Indeed, recall organizers had fewer than 750,000 signatures as of Nov. 17, the original signature deadline. That’s far short of the approximately 1.5 million that were needed.