Former State Senator Don Perata Leading New Campaign Against Gov. Newsom's Recall

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- Did you sign the petition to recall the governor? A former state senator wants those who did to remove their names. It's an organized effort called "Stop the Steal California."

Former state senator Don Perata is leading this new campaign.  He says most voters signed the recall petition at their lowest point in the pandemic and feel differently about the governor now that California is coming back.

"Times have clearly changed, so voters have the right to change their mind as well," said Perata.

Those changes are what former senator Don Perata is banking on to save Governor Gavin Newsom from a recall election.

"What's at stake is far greater than what's to gain," said Perata.

That gain? Voters that are willing to withdraw their names from the recall petition. Perata argues people were never told about how much a special election would cost California.. He estimates it's between $75-$100 million.

"If these people who are disgruntled really want to take out Gavin Newsom, they only have to wait six more months and he's up for re-election. So let 'em wait," he said.

Recall supporters claim they've collected roughly 2 million signatures -- well above the threshold of 1.5 million. It's a number Perata doesn't buy, which leads him to a bold prediction:

"If we can get 100,00 people to rescind then I believe we can kill this," he said.

Stop the Steal California is in the process of identifying voters that could flip-flop. As Perata explains, county election offices would come into play after that.

"We're mailing something out to them...," he said. "Attached to that same mailer is a tear-off sheet with all the information...all they have to do is sign it, it's paid postage, send it to the registrar and they're off the ball --  they're off the petition."

While Perata hasn't coordinated with anyone on the governor's team, this marks another campaign calling on Californians to do a gubernatorial gut check.

Perata admits this campaign has a big hill to climb. County election officials have until April 29 to verify signatures for the recall, so Stop the Steal California doesn't have much time.