By Emily Alvarenga and Kev Kurdoghlian
Signal Staff Writers
Gov. Gavin Newsom survived efforts aimed at removing him from office after a majority of Californians voted “no” in Tuesday’s recall election, according to preliminary election results.
As of 4:05 p.m. Wednesday, the California Secretary of State reported 63.9% of voters cast a “no” vote on the first question on the ballot, indicating they did not want Newsom removed from office.
The margin varied across different parts of the state, with 70.85%, or 1,598,140, of Los Angeles County voters casting a “no” vote.
In the city of Santa Clarita, 48.75% of votes cast opposed the recall, according to precinct data released by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Wednesday afternoon.
Local opposition to the recall grew to 50.6% when adding in votes cast by the unincorporated neighborhoods of Acton, Agua Dulce, Castaic and Stevenson Ranch and the unincorporated portions of Canyon Country, Newhall, Saugus and Valencia.
Across the Santa Clarita Valley, 49.4% of registered voters participated in the election, with nearly 76% of SCV voters casting their ballots by mail.
Of the 46 candidates on the ballot, Larry Elder, a conservative talk show host, garnered 46.9% of the vote on the second ballot question, which would have decided a replacement governor if a majority of voters decide to recall Newsom, while Kevin Paffrath, a Democrat, trailed Elder by 37 points in second place.
While all precincts’ votes were reportedly tallied as of 2:55 a.m. Wednesday, vote-by-mail, provisional and other ballots are set to continue to be processed and counted after Election Night.
A total of 2,263,071 ballots were processed and counted in L.A. County as of Wednesday, with 39.77% of registered voters casting ballots, according to the county Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office, which noted the estimated remaining 274,000 ballots are set to be processed and counted, with the first post-election ballot count update scheduled for Friday.
State election officials are scheduled to certify the election results on Oct. 22.
Santa Clarita Valley Democrats expressed their gratitude to voters participating in the election.
“This outcome was only made possible through the efforts of community members across the state and here in our own valley who worked tirelessly to defend the governor’s office from being taken over by a far-right extremist,” Andrew Taban, chair of the local Democratic group, said in a prepared statement.
Local recall organizers did not respond to a request for comment from The Signal.
