California Gov. Gavin Newsom addresses reporters after beating back the recall attempt that aimed to remove him from office, September 14. (AP)

California voted overwhelmingly to keep their Democrat governor, Gavin Newson, on Tuesday. The Californian decision constituted a rejection of a Republican attempt to unseat the governor. A special recall vote was called for due to mask mandates and COVID-19 lockdowns.

With more than 60% of the votes tallied, NBC, CNN, and Fox News said Newsom was winning, with two-thirds of the Californians voting against the Republican effort.

Taking the vast difference in terms of the result into consideration, the networks concluded that Newsom would remain Governor until the end of his term in the United States' most populated state.

"'No' is not the only thing that was expressed tonight," Newsom said right after the race was called.

The Republican effort against Newsom was due to measures scientists commended, calling on people to stay home and urging for school lockdowns. He was also the first US governor to enforce a state-wide lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19, making him one of many opponents among the anti-vax and COVID non-believing community.

Entrepreneurs blamed him for suffocating their businesses, and parents criticized him for keeping their children home.

Democrats, however, found that Republicans were only using these issues as a pretext to 'hijack' the Democrat leadership of the state, seizing power in extraordinary circumstances when they couldn't do it through normal elections.