What you need to know about the California recall

The Republican-backed effort to recall Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is now in its final phase as ballots arrive in the mailboxes of every registered California voter for the September 14 special election.

The grassroots effort to oust Newsom, who was elected in 2018, was launched last year by a group of conservative Californians critical of the Democratic governor's record on immigration, taxes, the death penalty and the state's homelessness crisis, among other issues. But their quest to collect enough signature petitions to force a recall election took off late last year amid anger about Newsom's Covid-19 stay-at-home orders and other restrictions. And while the governor appeared to be in a strong position to withstand the effort for much of this year, the resurgence of the pandemic and frustration with the state's wildfire, drought and homelessness crises has injected an unexpected level of volatility into the race in an overwhelmingly blue state.