The lead proponent of Newsom’s recall has been sidelined with the coronavirus.

Politics|The pb proponent of Newsom’s callback has been sidelined with the coronavirus.

• Sept. 7, 2021, 11:13 a.m. ET

As the pandemic-fueled run to callback Gov. Gavin Newsom of California heads into its past week, its pb proponent said helium has been sidelined with the coronavirus.

Orrin Heatlie, 52, a retired Republican sheriff’s sergeant from Yolo County, said helium was astatine location recovering from a bout of the coronavirus connected Tuesday.

“Thought I was immune arsenic I’ve had it before,” Mr. Heatlie said successful a substance message, adding that helium is unvaccinated. “Then spent 13 hours successful a lukewarm motortruck traveling backmost from Wyoming with a person who came down with it connected the trip.”

The pandemic has played a large role successful fueling the recall, which had been regarded arsenic a agelong shot erstwhile Mr. Heatlie and a tiny radical of grass-roots Tea Party activists began circulating petitions successful 2019.

Their archetypal ailment with the politician arose from his stances connected the decease punishment and immigration, which they disagreed with. But erstwhile Mr. Newsom initiated stay-at-home orders, schoolroom closures and different wellness restrictions to dilatory the dispersed of the virus, callback supporters added those upheavals to their database of grievances against him.

In November, a justice granted them an hold to proceed circulating petitions due to the fact that Mr. Newsom’s wellness orders had made it harder to stitchery signatures. That hold allowed Mr. Heatlie’s group to stitchery the astir 1.5 cardinal signatures required to bring the projected callback to a ballot — an effort that was helped on erstwhile a maskless Mr. Newsom was seen eating astatine an exclusive edifice with friends, aft helium had asked Californians to enactment location to debar spreading the virus.

Throughout the campaign, the callback supporters person blasted the governor’s mandates to get vaccinated, socially region and deterioration look masks. Mr. Heatlie said his wife, who is vaccinated, had caught the microorganism from him.

The acknowledgment came arsenic coronavirus cases, which are surging successful different parts of the country, have plateaued successful California, which present has immoderate of the nation’s highest vaccination rates. This week, Mr. Newsom, up successful the polls, released a caller advertisement informing Californians that Republicans backing the callback volition “eliminate vaccine mandates,” and endanger the state’s recovery.