He’s called the efforts to unseat him racist. He’s even tried to con the public into thinking the recall campaign is inspired by QAnon. But California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political career seems to be over despite his claims to the contrary.

A new poll reveals that while Californians are divided on the initiative to recall Newsom, they seem to be in agreement with the idea that he needs to go. If the survey reflects the rest of the Golden State, it is clear the governor’s political days are numbered.

Emerson College For Nexstar Media released the results of the poll on Monday shows that 38% of Californians support recalling Newsom while 42% wish to keep him in office. However, 13.9% remain undecided on the issue, meaning that it is still possible that the governor could be ousted through the recall effort.

But the results are different when it comes to those who would support re-electing Newsom in 2022 should the recall effort fail. According to the survey, 41.7% of Californians favor giving him another term while a whopping 58.3% believe it is “time for someone new.”

Even worse, the poll found: “respondents were nearly evenly split if they approved of Newsom’s job as Governor: 41.8% said they approved, 40.3% said they disapprove and 17.9% were unsure or had no opinion.”

Director of Emerson Polling Spencer Kimball explained the results:

“The Republicans are in favor of the recall regardless of which candidate they put up and the Democrats are still with Newsom, but there is a weaker support for the governor among younger Democrats and if a fresh new face emerges on the left that could be a game-changer in Newsom’s Democrat support and a boost in the recall effort.”

He also noted: “part of the issue for Governor Newsom is his management of the COVID-19 pandemic, where voters are split in their approval. However, his falling popularity doesn’t appear to be caused by the mask mandate, as a majority (51%) of Californians think it is the right measure, compared to 23% who think it doesn’t go far enough and 26% who said it goes too far.”

Newsom launched his own campaign to combat the move to recall him. It has reportedly gained 2 million signatures, which is enough to trigger a special election. The governor’s initiative claims the recall movement is “powered by a partisan, Republican coalition of national Republicans, anti-vaxxers, QAnon conspiracy theorists, anti-immigrant activists and Trump supporters.”

California lawmaker Lorena Gonzalez is one of several high-profile Democrats doing their part to spread this particular lie.

The Republican recall attempt in California is led by a coalition of national Republicans, anti-vaxxers, Q-Anon conspiracy theorists and anti-immigrant Trump supporters. Donate to help @GavinNewsom stop the Republican recall: https://t.co/EFXNiCyT1d

— Lorena Gonzalez (@LorenaSGonzalez) March 15, 2021

Left-leaning activist media outlets like the Los Angeles Times are attempting to push Newsom’s deceptive arguments. The anti-recall campaign’s website says: “According to the Los Angeles Times, they include ‘peddlers of Q-Anon doomsday conspiracies; ‘patriots’ readying for battle and one organization allied with the far-right extremist group, the Proud Boys.’”

Unfortunately for the governor, it does not appear that residents of the Golden State are buying what he is selling.

While Kimball may be right about Californians’ attitudes toward the mask mandates, it only suggests there are other reasons for the groundswell of support for the effort to remove Newsom. It seems obvious that the governor’s brazen hypocrisy when it comes to his rules regarding masks and lockdown orders is a factor in this equation. The fact that his administration has tried using curfews, forcing business closures, and selectively applying the rules are likely other reasons why he is being rebuffed by California’s residents.

Victoryornia business for the recall campaign is not out of reach; many of the 13.9% could be swayed in the direction of Newsom’s ouster. But even if the governor is not recalled, the fact that the state’s residents believe a new person should run the state signals that his time is coming to an end, and with the exception of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving governor.