Introduction
The Governor of the State of California is elected constitutionally and is the head of the executive brand as well as the office in California State. Actually, elections are generally held after every four years and the governor of California State is popularly elected into office by a popular majority (“Codes Display Text,” n.d.). The position of the governor is limited to only two terms. The governor’s office was initially formed in 1849, substituting the sequence of military governors who had ruled the territory as from the annexation.
Normally, after every four years, every political party has the main candidate they nominate and campaign for. Every party normally has one political aspirant for governor prior to the main election usually carried out in November. To determine who will stand out to be the main candidate to run for governor, every party has diverse candidates vying to be nominated by the party to run for the position of the governor (“Codes Display Text,” n.d.). Therefore, an election is conducted within the party whereby only registered party members are eligible to vote. After every party has selected its aspirant for governor, those selected compete in the elections carried out in November and the governor is elected through a direct popular vote, a vote carried out by only qualified voters.
A governor is the highest official rank; it has intense and dedicated official duties. The governor’s duties entail; to sign bills into laws, commanding state’s military forces, leading special legislative session for the state legislature, making state conferences and addressing the public, granting pardon to prisoners and also the appointment of people to various judicial and state job positions (“Codes Display Text,” n.d.). Additionally, a governor being a ceremonial head of state, he or she has a role of hosting dignitaries from other countries or even states. The governor has the mandate of ensuring the economic prosperity of the state through proper management of resources. The governor also has the duty to attract new businesses and investors and as well form partnership and cooperation with other governments. It is also a duty for a governor to attend public ceremonies and events and also make visits to constituents within the state.
Serving Terms
Every governor normally serves their term in office for up to four years, while others can take two years. A governor is eligible to be elected into office for only two terms making it a maximum of 8 years in total. However, a governor can be removed from office prior to the expiry of their term in office by impeachment. The government can be removed through impeachment by the State Assembly due to misconduct while in office (“Codes Display Text,”). The impeachment is effective only when a two-thirds vote is made by the State Senate to impeach the governor. Also, a governor can be removed from office through recall by voters. This involves signing a petition by voters of California State which is equivalent to 12% of the vote cast for the office of governor during elections. Signatures too have to be collected. At this point, voters can proceed to vote on whether to recall the governor or not and as well can vote in a potential replacement governor on the same ballot box (“Codes Display Text,” n.d.). Suppose most of the voters vote for recalling of the governor, the individual who gets more votes in the potential replacement race is crowned the governor.