As cases of COVID-19 continue to go down and California continues to reopen, some Californians are asking for the recall of current California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Currently, a total of 1.7 million signatures have been validated to recall governor Newsom.

While issues such as affordable housing and wildfires in California remain prominent, most of Newsom’s efforts have been focused on the ongoing pandemic, in which COVID-19 guidelines are leaving some Californians unsatisfied.

Political science professor, Joshua Casper’s perspective said that the Newsom recall mainly picked up steam due to his handling of the pandemic. Specifically, enforcement of restaurant closures, mask mandates and stay-at-home orders would ultimately disgruntle many voters.

“The predominant rationale that I have read and seen on the news and from [the] California’s Republican Party’s support for the recall [is] how he’s enforced the pandemic rules,” Casper said.

COVID-19 guidance is a driving force for the recall. However, Casper says that some of Newsom’s current policies, such as statewide stimulus payments, may alter voter decisions.

“Two-thirds of California adults will be getting stimulus checks from the State of California— unmarried will get $600, married will get $1,200,” Casper said. “People are going to see they are getting help from the state.”

Some students, such as kinesiology major Nick Reyes, have echoed displeasure in Newsom’s handling of the pandemic.

“I believe Newsom should be recalled because of the way he handled the pandemic, him showing he is not trustworthy. Closing restaurants and the incident in which he was at a restaurant while others struggled showed that in the midst of a global crisis, he was not able to handle the problems effectively,” Reyes said.

Despite issues plaguing the state, English major Amaris Staley does not support the recall, but hopes that Newsom will do more to address affordable housing and wildfire assistance, which may also sway voters’ attention away from the recall.

“In my opinion, what I would like to see is him putting heavier fines on arsonists causing wildfires in Los Angles along with affordable housing. Those are major subjects that could sway voters,” Staley said. “I currently do not believe Newsom should be recalled; I say this because I do not see people like Caitlyn Jenner have the experience with politics as he does.”

Ultimately, only time will tell if Newsom will be recalled. However, with elections in November of 2022, Casper noted that a recall election so close to a regularly scheduled gubernatorial election would be nothing more than a waste of money.

“He’s up for election at that point anyway. If you like him, you can vote for him there; if you don’t like him, you can vote to get rid of him,” Casper said.

Correction: The headline and first paragraph have been updated for style.