SAN DIEGO — For only the second time in California history, it appears that a special election will be held to recall a sitting governor.
State election officials confirmed Monday that supporters of the movement to remove Governor Gavin Newsom from office have gathered more than enough valid signatures.
According to the Secretary of State's office, there are a total of 1,626,042 verified signatures as of Monday. The recall effort needed 1,495,709 verified signatures to move into a recall election.
Californians would have two questions to answer on this ballot: should Governor Newsom be recalled; and if so, who should take his place?
The results of the second question will only be tallied if more than 50% of voters answer "yes" to the first one.
"It is an historic day," said Randy Economy, spokesman for the recall effort. "[Newsom] created this mess, and now the people are fixing it."
"It is up to the politicians in Sacramento now," Economy added. "All we can do is make sure that they're held accountable, but the election is happening."
While Californians who signed the recall petition will have the next 30 days to remove their name if they wish, even Newsom's campaign acknowledges that that is unlikely to make any difference.
The governor told his supporters in a fundraising appeal Monday, "I am not going to take this fight lying down. There is too much at stake, and I intend to win."
Currently, about 40% of Californians support the recall effort.
"At 40% they are still leaps and bounds away from securing the 50% plus one threshold that would take Governor Newsom out of office," said News 8 political analyst Laura Fink.
Fink also noted that who is on the other side of the ballot will play a huge role in whether Newsom is recalled: specifically, whether is there a "superstar," as there was in the 2003 recall of Governor Grey Davis.
"Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger became governor because people wanted to turn out to vote just so they could say they voted for the Terminator," Fink told News 8. "He had that draw, that name ID."
So far, a handful of Republicans have announced they are running, including former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and former Olympic star and transgender rights activist Caitlyn Jenner.
"We're not going to begrudge anyone the right to run," Economy said. "We want to welcome everybody to run. Everybody has the right to be governor of California."
The recall election will most likely be held sometime this fall, and it promises not to be an inexpensive one. The LA Times has recently estimated the price tag at nearly $400 million.
WATCH: Governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger after recall election 2003