Nearly 670,000 signatures validated in Newsom recall effort

Nearly 1.1 million signatures from the campaign to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) have been submitted to state officials, Secretary of State Shirley Weber reported on Friday.

Why it matters: If the recall effort collects the required 1.5 million valid signatures by the March 17 deadline, this would be the second gubernatorial recall to make it to the ballot in state history.

• The first and only gubernatorial recall that has qualified for the ballot in California was in 2003 and resulted in then-Gov. Gray Davis (D) being replaced with Arnold Schwarzenegger (R).

The state of play: Of the 1,094,457 signatures submitted, 798,310 have been reviewed with 668,202 signatures deemed valid and 130,108 invalid.

• There are still 296,147 signatures waiting to be reviewed, but even if they all are validated, the total would not hit the necessary number.
• Not so fast: Anne Dunsmore, a recall campaign organizer, told Politico there are still signatures left to be reported, saying that 1.2 million have been submitted and roughly 1.7 million in total have been collected.
• The recall effort has received national attention, with the Republican Republican National Committee spending $250,000 to promote the campaign.

What to watch: "The next official state status report is scheduled for March 18 — the day after the deadline for proponents to submit signatures. County election officials will then need [to] submit results to the secretary of state’s office, which will announce if the recall has made the ballot," Politico writes.