Organizers for recall Gov. Newsom campaign say they have enough signatures

Organizers of the Recall Gov. Gavin Newsom Campaign say they've compiled more than 2 million signatures ahead of the March 17 deadline needed to force a special recall election likely later this year.  But not everyone is on board. A coalition of elected API California leaders say California should resist this effort.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Organizers of the Recall Gov. Gavin Newsom Campaign say they've compiled more than 2 million signatures ahead of the March 17 deadline needed to force a special recall election likely later this year.

The signatures would still need to be verified by the state of California. The state requires 1.5 million signatures.

The recall effort stems from how Newsom handled the coronavirus pandemic. Critics and prominent Republicans are not happy with government shutdowns of businesses and schools due to public health safety measures.

However, not everyone is on board with the recall campaign. A group of Asian-Pacific Islander elected leaders opposed the effort in a virtual rally held on Wednesday. They urged Californians to stand with more than 120 elected API officials across the state against Newsom's recall.

"He does what he thinks is right even if it's not popular," said California State Treasurer Fiona Ma. "In the end, it ends up that what he stood for became what was right and popular."

Other elected officials in the virtual rally included Senate Controller Betty Yee, Assemblymembers Rob Bonta and David Chiu.