NewsCalifornia News

Actions

EXPLAINER: If Newsom recall fails, no winning candidate

California Recall Race Calls
Posted
and last updated

WASHINGTON (AP) — Forty-six candidates are on the ballot to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom in Tuesday’s recall election. But it won’t matter who comes in first unless a majority votes to remove Newsom.

That’s why The Associated Press will only declare a winner among the 46 if the vote to recall him is successful.

The ballot asks voters first whether they want to recall Newsom and then has them choose from the replacement candidates. Millions of votes in California don’t get counted until after Election Day.

So if the the recall question is close it could take days to determine which side won.

The AP will report the vote counts for replacement candidates in its news coverage.

,

Weather

Daily Forecast

View Hourly Forecast

Day

Conditions

HI / LO

Precip

Tuesday

12/16/2025

Partly Cloudy

50° / 43°

4%

Wednesday

12/17/2025

Mostly Sunny

56° / 50°

8%

Thursday

12/18/2025

Partly Cloudy

57° / 46°

7%

Friday

12/19/2025

Partly Cloudy

56° / 47°

7%

Saturday

12/20/2025

Partly Cloudy

59° / 50°

6%

Sunday

12/21/2025

Mostly Cloudy

63° / 50°

6%

Monday

12/22/2025

Partly Cloudy

60° / 48°

3%

Tuesday

12/23/2025

Partly Cloudy

61° / 53°

6%