California Proposition 5 Explained: How It Would Change Recall Elections After Newsom and Oakland's Sheng Thao Fights

California voters will decide on Proposition 5 on Nov. 3, a constitutional amendment that would rewrite how the state replaces elected officials after a recall. For Bay Area readers who lived through the costly 2021 attempt to remove Gov. Gavin Newsom and Oakland's 2024 recall of then-Mayor Sheng Thao, the measure answers a practical question: should the same ballot that boots someone also pick their successor?

Under today's rules, a statewide recall ballot asks two questions: whether to remove the official, and who should take the job if voters say yes. Proposition 5 would keep only the first question. According to the Legislative Analyst's Office, the vacancy would then be filled the way other mid-term openings are filled — usually by a later special election for legislators, or by appointment for most statewide executives — with a separate rule for the governor.

What Prop 5 would change

The Legislative Analyst's Office says Prop 5 would:

• Remove the replacement-candidate question from recall elections for state officers.
• Treat a successful recall as creating a vacancy, then use existing vacancy rules for most offices.
• For a recalled state senator or Assembly member, typically call a separate special election.
• For most other statewide offices, let the governor appoint a replacement until the next scheduled election.
• For a recalled governor: if the recall happens early in the term before the next nomination period closes, the lieutenant governor serves until voters elect a new governor; if it comes later, the lieutenant governor finishes the term.

KALW summarized the same core change on Oct. 14: voters would only decide whether to remove the official. The California Secretary of State's quick guide frames a yes vote as ending same-ballot successor elections and a no vote as keeping the two-question system.

Why it is on the ballot

CalMatters reports that Democratic lawmakers placed the measure on the ballot in 2024 after the failed 2021 Newsom recall, with support from the secretary of state, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters of California. Sen. Josh Newman, who was himself recalled in 2018 over a gas-tax vote and later returned to office, authored the underlying amendment. Republican lawmakers opposed it, arguing it would weaken voters' power and add the cost of follow-up special elections.

The fiscal picture is uncertain. The Legislative Analyst's Office says the net effect could be savings or costs of millions of dollars depending on which office is recalled and whether a standalone special election is needed. CalMatters notes the 2021 Newsom recall alone cost about $200 million to administer. A Public Policy Institute of California poll in early September found 59% of likely voters leaning no and 35% leaning yes.

What your vote means

• Yes: Future state recalls would ask only whether to remove the official. Replacements would come later through special elections or appointments.
• No: Voters would keep choosing a replacement on the same recall ballot, with the top vote-getter taking office if the official is removed.

Bay Area voters have recent local experience with recalls: Oakland removed Sheng Thao in November 2024, and her federal bribery trial opened this week in downtown Oakland. For the full slate of local and regional measures, see our 2026 Bay Area election guide, plus our explainers on San Francisco Proposition D, Oakland Measure EE and the Sheng Thao trial opening statements.