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Majority of California voters would keep Gov. Newsom in office in recall election, polls finds

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, right, looks on during a news conference with Bay Area AAPI leaders at the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco on March 19, 2021, in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

A majority of likely California voters would keep Gov. Gavin Newsom in office if a recall election were held today, according to a new poll conducted as vaccinations in the state increase and the Democratic governor ramps up his campaign to fight the effort to remove him.

Among the 1,174 likely voters surveyed by the Public Policy Institute of California, 56% said they oppose the recall and 40% support it, with the remaining undecided. More than three-quarters of likely voters said the worst of the pandemic is over.

The results of the poll, conducted March 14-23, are a reflection of more Californians beginning to see “the light at the end of the tunnel” in the COVID-19 pandemic, said Mark Baldassare, president of the institute.

“The support for keeping Gov. Newsom has become much more optimistic about where things are headed with COVID than they were in January,” Baldassare said. “All of these things work to the benefit of keeping the status quo.”

Read the full story on LATimes.com.