California's Governor Gavin Newsom has survived an attempted recall, with state voters choosing to keep him in office.

Dissent over pandemic policies and restrictions saw Mr Newsom's critics gather more than 2 million signatures (they needed 1.5 million) to force the recall election.

The vote came in two parts: whether Mr Newsom should remain in office, and if not, who should replace him.

The result makes Mr Newsom the second governor in US history to survive a recall.

It also cements Mr Newsom's position as a prominent figure in national Democratic politics and preserves his prospects for a future US run.

Running against Mr Newsom were 46 alternatives for voters to choose from.

Had voters chosen to remove Mr Newsom, the most populous state in the US would have likely moved to a Republican government.

Much of the attention in the lead-up to the vote was focused on Republican talk radio host Larry Elder, who sought to become California's first black governor.

But that allowed Mr Newsom to turn the campaign into a choice between the two men, rather than a referendum on his performance.

Mr Newsom seized on Mr Elder's opposition to the minimum wage and abortion rights as evidence his views were outside those of mainstream Californians.

The Governor branded him as "more extreme than Trump", while US President Joe Biden called him "the closest thing to a Trump clone I've ever seen".

The recall mirrored the heated political divide in the US over business closures and mask and vaccine mandates.

Both major parties will be dissecting the outcome of the vote in California heading into the 2022 midterm elections.

But a recall election is an imperfect barometer, particularly of national trends. Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly two to one in California, so the results may not translate to governors in toss-up states or reflect how voters will judge members of Congress next year.

That the unusual contest was held at the tail end of summer meant some voters were not even tuned in.

Though Mr Newsom defeated the recall, he may soon be running against Mr Elder again: The Governor is up for re-election next year, and the primary, which puts candidates from all parties on one ballot, is just nine months away.

But the broader public stayed on Mr Newsom's side. Polling from the Public Policy Institute of California showed his approval rating remaining above 50 per cent throughout the pandemic.

With weeks to go, the institute's poll showed 60 per cent of Californians approved of Mr Newsom's handling of the pandemic.

In the closing days, Mr Elder's campaign echoed former US president Donald Trump's messaging, with him saying he expected "shenanigans" and linking to a website insinuating Mr Newsom had already won the election due to fraud.

Mr Newsom has been viewed as a potential White House contender since at least 2004, when as mayor of San Francisco he defied federal law to issue marriage licences to LGBT couples.

His victory maintained those prospects, though he will still have to navigate around the ambitions of Vice-President Kamala Harris, who came up through San Francisco politics alongside Mr Newsom.

ABC / AP