California Gov. Gavin Newsom will keep his job steering the nation's most populous state.

A majority of Californians have voted no - meaning against removing Newsom from office - in Tuesday's recall election of the embattled first-term Democratic governor.

Newsom, who was overwhelmingly elected governor in 2018 in the heavily blue state, was facing a recall drive sparked last year mainly over accusations that he mishandled his state’s response to the coronavirus, the worst pandemic to strike the globe in a century.

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered a decisive answer to the question of whether voters would penalize those who enacted strict policies aimed at slowing the coronavirus pandemic, triumphing over an effort to recall him Tuesday.

Newsom faced the first recall election in California in 18 years. At one point, weeks before the election, he appeared to be in serious enough jeopardy that Democrats decided to dispatch President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to campaign for him.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) defeated a Republican-backed effort to remove him, AP projected on Tuesday night.

Why it matters, via Axios' Margaret Talev: Tuesday's results highlight the limits of Republicans trying to use Trump tactics in a deeply Democratic state.

The campaign of Larry Elder — a conservative radio show host and Black Republican who has embraced Trump and anti-COVID vaccine rhetoric — in particular may have done more to help Newsom than hurt him by motivating Democrats to cast their ballots.