SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The recall effort against Gov. Gavin Newsom is gaining traction as thousands of signatures are collected across the state to unseat the California leader.

One woman behind the Recall Newsom 2020 campaign is Andrea Hedstrom. She’s a mother, Democrat, and long-time supporter of the governor who now volunteers her time to work on the initiative.

Whether she’s speaking behind a bull horn at the state Capitol or going door-to-door in her neighborhood, Hedstrom said she’s doing whatever she can to collect signatures and remove the governor from office.

“He does have a lot of experience, but I don’t really recognize California at this point,” she said.

The Washington native added that ever since she arrived in California, she’s paid close attention to Newsom’s political journey. She admired his policies when he was on the Board of San Francisco’s Supervisors, and his work when he was the mayor of San Francisco, and lieutenant governor of the state.

“He’s been on the right side of a lot of things in history from my point of view,” said Hedstrom.

She voted for him to be governor in 2018 and noted that she was one of his biggest supporters in the past. Hedstrom even named her 9-year-old son after the governor.

However, once stay-at-home orders were put in place throughout California, Hedstrom said she started to lose faith in Newsom’s leadership. She was even arrested outside the state Capitol during the protests to reopen California.

"I’m not even a person of faith, but to tell people they can’t go to church, that’s just kind of unfathomable to me," Hedstrom said. "That does not seem like the role of a governor."

Now she is trying to recall Newsom by collecting signatures every day. As of Tuesday, volunteers for the Recall Newsom 2020 campaign had collected 860,000 signatures.

“When I’m out doing the recall, people are upset and they’re signing because they believe that he’s gone too far, and these are even Democrats that are coming out,” said Hedstrom.

Even though she’s not one of Newsom’s biggest supporters anymore, she doesn’t regret naming her son after him.

“I love the name Gavin and I see my son kind of living to his name in a different way, and I wouldn’t choose a different name,” she said.

Still, she added, she’ll continue to persuade Californians to choose a new governor.

In order for a recall election to occur, 1.5 million voters must endorse the Recall Newsom 2020 campaign by March 17, 2021. Officials say a recall effort will cost California taxpayers at least $81 million.