CALIFORNIA, USA — Longshot recall candidate Kiley may emerge as a GOP leader
A 36-year-old Republican lawmaker is a longshot in California's upcoming recall election targeting Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. But Assemblyman Kevin Kiley is burnishing his conservative reputation and could emerge as a future leader in the downtrodden state GOP.
The former teacher and prosecutor from the Sacramento area was elected to the Assembly in 2016. During the pandemic, Kiley emerged as one of Newsom's chief critics and that has given him a devoted but relatively small following.
Kiley doesn't have the money to mount the kind of statewide media campaign that can raise his name recognition in a Republican field that includes talk radio host Larry Elder, Caitlyn Jenner and former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
Those holes on your ballot envelope do not reveal your vote
With the upcoming Gubernatorial Recall Election on Sept. 14, there are some viral claims circulating social media that you might be able to see what you voted for through the holes on the ballot envelopes in some counties.
That sparked a video on social media which, as of Friday afternoon, has more than 450,000 views on Twitter and it's been shared by Richard Grenell, the former acting Director of National Intelligence under the Trump administration who has more than 580,000 followers.
"This is the sketchy part," a woman in the video said. "You have to pay attention to these two holes that are in the front of the envelope. You can see if someone from the outside of the mail-in ballot, you can see if someone has voted yes to recall Newsom."
Q&A: Kevin Faulconer bashes Elder, talks recall race with ABC10
Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer stopped in Sacramento Friday morning for a press conference on his statewide bus tour. The focus of Friday's stop was looming water shortages and slamming conservative talk show host Larry Elder.
Faulconer is screaming moderate, asking all Democrats and Republicans to vote for him. He highlighted during the press conference how he "successfully" worked with a Democratic city council during his time as mayor.
Following the press conference, ABC10 hopped on the bus on its way down to Modesto.
Gallery: 2021 California Gubernatorial Recall candidates
Key Dates
- Aug. 4 - Republican recall candidates debate
- Aug. 7 - Republican Party virtual delegate vote
- Aug. 16 - First day to vote by mail
- Aug. 17 - Republican Party debate #2 in Sacramento
- August 30 - Last day to register to vote
- Sept. 14 - Recall election day
California Recall Fast Facts
On July 17, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber released a list of the 41 candidates who qualified to run in the recall election. About 70 candidates initially filed a statement of intent to run with the secretary of state, according to Ballotpedia.
On July 21, Weber signed off on the finalized list of candidates who'll appear on the recall ballot. The number grew to 46 after a judge ruled that candidates should not be required to submit tax forms for a recall election.
The final day for candidates to file paperwork to run in the recall election was July 16.
The final report from the Secretary of State's office, released on June 23, validated 1,719,943 signatures on the recall petition. The recall effort needed 1,495,709 verified signatures to trigger a recall election. Approximately 441,406 signatures were invalidated.
Only 43 people of the more than 1.7 million Californians who signed the recall petition chose to remove their name from the list.
On July 1, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis finalized the cost of the election at $276 million.