In November, California voters will decide whether to change the way state leaders can be removed from office. Back in 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom made a victory speech, decisively defeating a Republican-backed recall effort. “Had it succeeded, his replacement would have been Larry Elder, who wo uld have taken office as governor of the largest state in the union, the fourth largest economy in the world, with only 28% of voter support,” Proposition 5 author Josh Newman said. That’s one of the reasons why Newman said he authored Prop 5: to protect majority rule. Under current rules, voters casting ballots in recall elections face two questions: whether a state elected official should be recalled and who should replace them. Prop 5 would drop the second question to choose a successor, and if the recall passes, a new leader would emerge through an existing process. Newman knows the current process well. The former Democratic state senator was recalled in 2018. “My replacement took office with only 31% of the vote,” he said. “She was, in fact, the person whom I had defeated in 2016 to win in the first place, and then in 2020, I was reelected by a pretty persuasive margin and regained my seat in the state senate.” Newman said the recall process has evolved into a political tool used to seize power. Elections Sep 17 Bay Area voter guide: What to know about the November 2026 election Decision 2026 Oct 2 What to know about California propositions in the November election But critics argue successful efforts have been rare. According to the secretary of state, since 1913, just 11 efforts reached a November ballot. Of those, six were removed from office. “The process is working,” State Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones said. “The people know what they’re doing, the voters know what they’re doing. Let’s just trust the voters and not fix something that’s not broken.” Critics argue Prop 5 would put in place someone who is more of the same, circumventing the process of a recall at all, and add that it would stripe the decision-making power from voters. “To take this power away from the people and put it in place in the supermajority institution is really ridiculous, and the voters should be very cynical about it,” Jones said. It’s unclear how much Prop 5 would cost if passed, but both sides claim the other plan would cost taxpayers more. “You can think about it if it could potentially cost the state more money if the governor or an elected official is recalled and then there has to be a whole separate election to pick a successor rather than having a successor picked on the same ballot,” KQED political correspondent Guy Marzorati said. “Or perhaps it’s a situation where the state ends up saving money, they don’t have to print the materials for that second successor question. Really, I think we’re looking at this measure as not really adding or subtracting from state funds that much.” Marzorati said voters should keep in mind which elected offices would be affected if the proposition passes. “This is just for state elected officials, so we’re talking about statewide constitutional offices, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and state legislative races, so state senate, state assembly,” he said. “This would not affect all of the recalls that we’ve seen in recent years of district attorneys, of mayors. This would only be for those statewide offices.” ...read more read less