The recall war is continuing to deliver drama, with Senator Denham dropping a radio ad a few days ago which implicitly suggests that he shouldn't even be eligible for recall. As Capitol Alert recounts, "The ad...says: 'When a public official is guilty of malfeasance or criminal conduct in office, the California Constitution provides for the right to recall.'"
But as Capitol alert and Don Perata's spokesman both note, that's just one reason for someone to be recalled. CapAlert was good enough to track down the applicable portion of the law, which says: "Recall of a state officer is initiated by delivering to the Secretary of State a petition alleging reason for recall. Sufficiency of reason is not reviewable."
I don't recall any conduct by Gray Davis that was either criminal or contrary to law, but I guess that could be in the eye of the beholder. You may recall (ha!) that the petitions circulated back in 2003 said in part:
[Governor Davis's actions were a] "gross mismanagement of California Finances by overspending taxpayers' money, threatening public safety by cutting funds to local governments, failing to account for the exorbitant cost of the energy, and failing in general to deal with the state's major problems until they get to the crisis stage."
Now, Senator Denham may not personally or at least exclusively be responsible for "gross mismanagement" of anything, but last I checked, our current budget crisis (which is based on the budget that Denham's obstinacy helped create) is cutting funds to local governments (which threatens local education if not safety), has failed to account for the exorbitant cost of energy, and rather obviously failed in general to deal with the state's major problems before they got to the crisis stage. So basically, the one example of a major and modern recall election fits exactly with the premise driving the Denham recall attempt. But rather than actually defend himself, Denham has decided to to whine about being picked on.
It might be that there's a reasonable case for Denham to make on this, but he sure isn't making it with this "why is everybody always picking on me?" silliness.
Simón Salinas has pulled papers to run in the Denham recall. He has until 5 p.m. tomorrow to turn in papers and signatures.
One Republican has also pulled papers, but there is a question about residency which may disqualify John Nevill, a Monterey County health care compliance officer.
I'm sure there will be a few stragglers on the ballot, but if Salinas is it that would significantly increase the chances of the recall, since Denham is not on that part of the ballot. It's an expansive district and no candidate has a power base throughout it, but between Salinas' stronghold in the Monterey County area, and the new report that Stanislaus County has turned blue, with a 5,000-vote registration shift between 2006 and today, there is obviously a lot of movement here, and if Denham continues to whine about the process than his record, his days are numbered.
[UPDATE by Robert]Hank Shaw is reporting that Anna Caballero's brief flirtation with a run has ended, clearing the field for Salinas.
Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, said Thursday that she may jump into the race to replace Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, if he is recalled by voters.
Caballero had indicated she wouldn't enter the race, but said she's reconsidering because of calls from Democratic activists in the San Joaquin Valley, part of the sprawling 12th Senate District.
"These are cold calls, from people that I don't know," she said.
It would be quite interesting to know who is making these calls. Caballero might well be a strong candidate - before taking her seat in the Assembly she was the Mayor of Salinas, and has a good organizing presence in the Salinas Valley. Of course, most of the district is over in the San Joaquin Valley - hence these calls.
Caballero's profile is also VERY similar to the other potential candidate, former Assemblyman Simón Salinas:
Caballero joins Monterey County Supervisor Simón Salinas as a possible candidate. Salinas again said Thursday that he is considering whether to enter the contest, which will go before voters at the time of the June 3 primary.
"Frankly, it comes down to (whether) we can get enough resources to get our message out," Salinas said. "It is such a big geographical area."
The filing deadline for candidates in the hurry-up election is 5 p.m. Saturday.
As Randy Bayne explained yesterday, Salinas was believed to already be planning a run at Denham's seat in the 2010 election - which, if successful, would let him stay in the seat until 2018. But if he took Denham's place through the recall, he'd have to step down in 2014. Caballero, on the other hand, is only in her first term in the Assembly, and could presumably return there in 2014 if she chose.
Again, the filing deadline is Saturday at 5pm, and I'll bring you updates as I get them.
[UPDATE by Dave] I just want to add right at the top so he can see it that Denham flak Kevin Spillane is a worthless hack, and his little press release he wrote about me based on a recent blog post couldn't be more distorted and wrong. The media is buying in to his stupid hissy fit, apparently unarmed with any institutional memory that goes back to 2003, that any recall election against a Republican is an abuse of power. Grow some cajones, Kevin, and defend your candidate instead of inventing a boogeyman in the most hypocritical way possible. There will be a Democratic candidate, he'll come from the Central Valley, and he'll be a damn sight better than the unthinking automaton rubber stamp Jeff Denham turned out to be. If you can't defend your candidate you'll lose. Period.
Lots of news today on the Denham recall, including Randy Bayne's pessimistic view over in the recent diaries list. And here is some more: two new ads backing the recall are going to begin airing locally, paid for by the CDP. The TV ad is called "Sleeping":
We sent Jeff Denham to Sacramento.
So how did he wind up with jet lag?
He spent thousands on travel - while the Senate was in session.
Airline tickets. Trips to Vegas. And a Sedona spa.
When he does show up, he's sleepwalking.
Denham held up the budget, hurting our schools
Denham said he wasn't taking raises - then secretly raised his pay by 20 percent.
The Fresno Bee called it "not quite honest."
Don't you deserve better?
Vote yes on the recall
A radio ad will also be aired - the copy of it, also provided by FDR, is over the flip.
As noted yesterday in the Capitol Alert, Merced County DA Larry Morse has said he will not be a candidate to replace Denham in the June recall election. That would seem to leave Monterey County Supervisor and former member of the Assembly Simón Salinas as the most likely candidate, although he has not yet made any official statements to that effect.
Meanwhile Denham's aggressive defense against the recall has shifted toward questioning the paid signature gatherers - charging that some were from out of state, in violation of CA law, and that most were not from SD-12 - another error. In an interesting maneuver, the Denham campaign went to the very same Larry Morse to ask for an investigation of these charges. Morse refused, but I wonder if that played a role in his decision to not run against Denham in the recall.
Regardless of whether Morse or someone else investigates the matter, it's a little odd that the Dems would leave so many bread crumbs for the Denham folks. It appears that the majority of the petition-gatherers were not from Denham's 12th District, as they needed to be. The Denham folks also note that other listed as paid signature-gatherers registered at non-existent addresses or hotels. Add this to the tapes of gatherers telling voters that they're from Detroit or somesuch and it seems like there's enough evidence to hang your hat on...
...now of course in California you cannot tape someone without their acceptance, so those tapes would be illegal, too.
Regardless of whether or not the charges have merit, this is a good strategy for Denham to delegitimize the recall in the minds of SD-12 voters.
Over the weekend the CDP resolutions committee endorsed the recall of Jeff Denham in SD-12. The Republicans have thrown a massive hissy fit over this, similar to the hissy fit Yacht Party regulars like Sam Blakeslee have thrown, denouncing those who dare to identify his record in public. All of a sudden we're seeing op-eds throughout the region and across the state decrying what is routinely identified as a "Don Perata-engineered power grab." The latest comes from the fount of conventional wisdom in the California political media, George Skelton:
This is the time of year when the northern San Joaquin Valley is actually bucolic. Temperatures are bearable. The hills are green and the orchards are in full bloom -- almonds gussied in white, peaches in pink.
Too bad that this spring there's also a foul odor of Sacramento political pollution.
In a nutshell, the local state senator -- Republican Jeff Denham of Merced -- didn't vote for the state budget last summer. That contributed to a 52-day stalemate and angered the Senate leader, Democrat Don Perata of Oakland. So Perata now is trying to recall Denham.
Not just a payback, but the political death penalty.
Funny, I don't remember such high dudgeon back in 2003, when the recall of Gray Davis was viewed as a victory for democracy and an opportunity for the people to have their say.
Here's what's actually going on. Professional hack Kevin Spillane is good at getting his propaganda into the papers. And the media obliges without any historical perspective whatsoever. If Republicans want to put forth a measure ending recall petitions and allowing any state officer to finish out their term, go ahead; I'd probably support it. But they don't. They want to use the recall when it suits them and whine about "fairness" and "power grabs" when it doesn't. There could not have possibly been a bigger power grab than the Darrell Issa and Ted Costa-funded recall of Gray Davis. Anyone in the so-called liberal media dumb enough not to understand this notion of asymmetrical warfare isn't worth reading.
I fear that the Spillane hack-o-thon is bearing fruit in scaring off Democrats from pressing forward on this recall; there certainly wasn't a lot of talk about it or enthusiasm at the convention, nor was there any potential challenger in sight pressing the flesh. The Denham recall, in fact, is what the process was invented for: when legislators protect their own or their party's interest at the expense of the people they should be held accountable. Jeff Denham is part of an effort to stop California lawmakers from doing their jobs and eliminate, for practical purposes, the role of government in the state. The Iron Law of Institutions dictate that "people within institutions act to increase their own power rather than the power of the institution itself." The only way to deal with that from the outside is use the legal tools available to exact leverage on the institution. If it was OK for a Republican to use, so too for a Democrat.
So these media types and their hacktastic Republican spinmeisters can shut their whiny little mouths and defend their role in the shutdown of democracy in California to the voters. Jeff Denham ought to be able to defend himself instead of crying about the "process."
This is really kind of priceless. So the Assembly caucuses are having their legislative retreats this week. The Assembly Democrats are meeting at the UC Davis Medical Center. The Assembly Republicans have booked out this hotel. In addition to the many amenities at the Le Rivage Hotel, they offer:
Marina - Offers luxury yacht parking, long term and short term
Whether it's welfare queen Tom McClintock grabbing $300,000 in tax-free per diem payments even though he lives a short commute from the capital, or Jeff Denham pretending to decline pay raises while accepting them a few months after everyone stops paying attention, or Assembly Republicans making sure their retreat has luxury yacht parking, the contrast between the party of the people and the party of self-enrichment is striking. The Yacht Party detests runaway spending unless it's spent on them.
So you expect a couple of conservative bitter-enders like KFI shock jocks John and Ken to depict Italian-American Don Perata as a Mafia boss. Slightly less expected was that the same graphic would make its way onto local news in Sacramento.
A televised graphic depicting Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata as an apparent Mafia leader, pointing a gun skyward, has angered Italian-Americans.
Bill Cerruti, who is chairman of a state Italian-American task force and leader of the Italian-American Cultural Society, blasted the characterization today and demanded an apology.
The graphic, depicting Perata in a purple suit and white tie, was broadcast by Sacramento's KOVR 13 - with anchor Chris Burrous - and on the website of talk-show hosts "John and Ken" of KFI radio in Los Angeles, Cerruti said.
Burrous goes on to blast Perata for suggesting the state raise taxes to help balance the state budget.
Yes, anyone who doesn't want to see thousands of teachers fired and elderly people denied health care is most certainly a gangster.
I'm not wired for outrage, so you tell me if this slur is beyond the pale or not. What I do know and expect is that the Denham recall will provide plenty more opportunities for the "Don" Perata slur to manifest itself, and the dead-ender anti-tax forces running his recall opposition campaign are not likely to disappoint. Hopefully they have Perata shoot bullets from a Tommy gun into their "No on the Recall" logo! Hey guys, pay me for that idea before you use it!
I've been perusing some of the reaction in the local papers on the qualification of the Jeff Denham recall on the ballot, and there's some interesting stuff in there. From Hank Shaw in the Stockton Record, we learn that Denham has been harvesting money for months, and given the lack of campaign finance limits in a recall election, expect more Chamber of Commerce members to fork over big novelty checks.
Denham has been raising money hand over fist to defend himself. He collected a $50,000 check from Oakdale Sierra Tel, a telecommunications company, late last week and has amassed more than $300,000 so far. As the target of a recall, Denham can raise cash in unlimited amounts.
Telecom company, ay? Not that Denham has anything to do with the FISA fight, but telecoms aren't exactly popular figures in districts with a 45-36 registration advantage for Democrats.
As for who the opponent will be, it looks like there are two potential candidates, former Assemblymember Simon Salinas and Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse. Morse claims that Perata contacted him last month about running.
After the meeting, Morse said he spoke with Denham about the offer as a courtesy because there are never any secrets in Sacramento; he didn't want the senator learning about it from someone else.
Morse ran for Assembly in 1996 and lost to Dennis Cardoza, and also considered a run for Senate in 2002, which would have pitted him against Denham.
Since becoming district attorney, Morse said he's made progress in office and hasn't considered any other elected slot.
"I'm not sure what set of circumstances could induce me to leave," he said. "When the president of the Senate asks to talk with you, you probably owe him the courtesy of talking to him."
Morse is apparently big on courtesy. If he did run, would he let Denham in on his ad information and oppo research because he "doesn't want him to learn about it from someone else"?
"The bad news for Perata, who started this recall, is this vote will take place right in the middle of the debate over the 2008-09 budget," Denham campaign consultant Tim Clark said.
Yes, exactly! And voters don't want their schools dismantled and their teachers fired. It was also amusing to hear hired gun Kevin Spillane say in the Fresno Bee that the recall has Sacramento ties. Right, because you're the salt of the earth from Stanislaus County, right?
I am liking the aggressive reaction from the Dump Denham folks.
Perata spokeswoman Alicia Trost referred calls to Paul Hefner, spokesman for the "Dump Denham" recall campaign.
"The voters have caught on to Jeff Denham. They're recalling him for the same reasons people take unsafe toys off the shelf and tainted meat out of supermarkets-because they're no good, and because we deserve better," Hefner said in a statement.
This is a pretty big deal. I really hadn't been paying much attention to this recall possibility, but it's come to fruition. There have only been 8 other recall elections of sitting state legislators to qualify for the ballot in the past 90 years. Jeff Denham becomes the ninth.
The recall attempt of Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Atwater, has gathered enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced Tuesday.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger must set the recall election for a date 60 to 80 days from today, Bowen's office reports.
Once the Governor sets the date, (it seems almost certain that he'll pick June 3, which is 77 days away and also the day of the statewide primary) candidates can emerge. And given Sen. Perata's interest in this race, I think we'll see some strong Democrats contest this seat, unlike the somewhat shameful behavior in SD-15, where apparently Abel Maldonado's vote for last year's budget got him a reprieve from any challenge (right now there's no Democrat on the ballot to face Maldonado, though a write-in campaign still has time to emerge). However, this does put the Senate in play to flip to a 2/3 majority, given this race and the race in SD-19 with Hannah-Beth Jackson versus Tony Strickland.
Like the gubernatorial recall in 2003, there will be two questions on the ballot. The first will ask if Denham should be recalled, and the second will ask who among a list of challengers should replace him.
It seems to me that this is an excellent opportunity to message-test the major themes around the budget, revenues, and spending in advance of the nasty legislative fight and the November general election. While I don't expect this recall to be as exciting as Gray Davis', or to feature Gary Coleman, to the extent that it's a referendum on failed conservative ideology I think it could be extremely revelatory.
Robert is our resident expert in this neck of the state, I expect him to chime in.
UPDATE: Apparently, the old No on 93 team is getting back together to support Denham. So expect them to make this about Perata and a power grab. Whatever they choose, this will be extremely costly to the CRP at a time when they don't have the money. And they have to be extremely nervous about this stat:
The recall campaign, funded by the Democratic Party and a campaign committee linked to Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, turned in more than 61,000 signatures last month, nearly double the 31,084 need to qualify.
I would guess that 61,000 voters would be more than enough to dump Denham in June.
Sure, you've seen the Yes We Can video, but I like the M.c.Cain version.
Environment: Other news of note, it seems SB 908, which would include climate change in the science curriculum, isn't popular with some Republicans. Science is political, I suppose. Count soon-to-be-recalled Senator Jeff Denham among the skeptics, because Denham knows waaaay more about climate science than the IPCC.
"Some wouldn't view them as skeptics. Some would view them as the right side of the issue," said Denham, an Atwater almond farmer who also runs a plastics recycling business.
"We don't have complete factual information yet," Denham said. "From what I have seen the Earth has heated and cooled on its own for centuries. I don't know that there's anything that is a direct cause of that right now, but we can do a better job of cleaning up our planet." (SJ Merc 2/15/08)
Double Bubble: Don't worry about this double bubble, thing, b/c, you know, it's been happening for years. So, no, big, whoop, right?
Six years ago, Los Angeles County began using a ballot for nonpartisan voters that had a little-noticed design flaw. Confusion over how to mark the ballot, critics say, caused tens of thousands of votes to go uncounted in three elections between 2002 and 2006.
At the time, election officials knew that some votes were not being counted but saw no need to make changes. After all, the missing votes went unnoticed in the three primary elections and no one complained.(LAT 2/18/08)
Openness: Hey, this is an open thread. Have a great President's Day!
Capitol Alert is alerting, as it does that after a budget meeting yesterday that may have gotten a little dicey, Don Perata stripped Dem Sen. Joe Simitian (Palo Alto) of his chairmanship in the Environmental Quality Committee. Simitian apparently had some dissenting notions on how education money should be apportioned. Rising Senate Pro Tem Steinberg told the tale:
"We ran into a little bit of a controversy, if you will, with the Prop 98 issue and one of our members had a very legitimate, Joe Simitian had a very legitimate point of view about whether or not we rebench Prop 98," said Steinberg. "You know Senator Perata and Senator (Denise) Ducheny (the chair of the budget committee) did not want to rebench Prop 98 down as a result of one of the cuts we were making."
Of course this is more or less par for the course with Perata and handing down time-outs to misbehaving legislators. He locked Dems out of their offices last year for wavering a bit too much on party loyalty and booted Rep. Sen. Jeff Denham (now being recalled thanks to Perata) from the Senate Governmental Organization Committee for not passing a budget.
I'm not gonna venture a guess as to what went on exactly in the meeting, but one wonders if/when these maneuvers will come with a stool in the corner and a dunce cap. And whether, long-term, the party/Perata loyalty is improved or not.
If (the recall) happens," said Salinas, a former assemblyman, "I am willing to say, look at my credentials, and certainly ask for (voters') support."...
He said he's played no role in the signature gathering to qualify the recall for the ballot. But if it qualifies, Salinas said, the Democratic Party needs to be ready to offer an experienced candidate.
"My concern is, if it happens, we need effective representation," he said.
The county supervisor added that he is now ready to return to Sacramento state government.
"I have taken my break," he said. "My son is going to be going to college, so I figure I have the time."
And as we saw in 2003, the chances of a successful recall increase if you can get voters excited about someone waiting in the wings to replace the recall target. Salinas is, of course, a much better politician than Arnold, but if he can rally voters to his cause, then Denham is in even more trouble than it had appeared on Friday.
Several developing developments to close out your week today.
The Dump Denham folks are turning in 50,000 signatures in support of the effort. Just over 31,000 valid signatures are required to qualify. Seems that we should start getting geared up for this one.
Rep. Waxman is continuing the agitation on the California EPA waiver, dropping subpoenas for documents reviewed by the EPA before rejecting California emission regulations.
Sacramento Bee's Ed Board weighs in on the double bubble trouble and is none too pleased with Los Angeles County's screwy ballots or acting Registrar Dean Logan. (full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign)
55 people were indicted over welfare fraud that snagged millions in a scheme centered around fake child care facilities in and around Los Angeles.
Speaking of Los Angeles, I'll be there tomorrow for no particular reason and with nothing particular to do. Or as Bran Van 3000 says
But we did nothing, absolutely nothing that day, and I say:
What the hell am I doing drinking in L.A. at 26?
I got the fever for the flavor, the payback will be later, still I need a fix.
The Dump Denham effort submitted some 50,000 recall petition signatures Friday, enough to force Jeff Denham to answer to voters for breaking his promises to schools, secretly raising his own pay, and blocking legislation to help homeowners facing foreclosure.
"We've had enough of Jeff Denham's broken promises, his back-room deals with special interests and his dishonest way of treating the people who elected him - starting with his very own paycheck," said Gary Robbins, leader of the recall drive. "By signing these petitions, 50,000 voters are saying 'we can't wait three years for honest representation.' It's time to dump Jeff Denham."
...Despite the recall petitions circulated against him through the fall, Denham continued to treat his constituents with contempt, voting to kill urgent legislation to help homeowners facing foreclosure in the subprime mortgage crisis.
"For Denham to turn his back on us when thousands of us are losing their homes - just to curry favor with some of the very the bankers who caused this crisis - was the last straw," Robbins said.
Clearly the campaign has found its narrative, it's "elevator speech" explaining why a recall is necessary - that Denham broke his promises on education, misled constituents to get a pay raise, and most significantly, blocked efforts to provide relief to homeowners facing foreclosure.
That last item, said to be the "last straw" by the campaign, is significant. Denham's district, which includes Modesto, Merced, and Salinas is among the hardest hit places in the world by the bursting of the housing bubble (only Stockton is worse off). Perata obviously believes that this creates an opportunity to go after Denham, and it's hard to disagree.
Additionally, this may indicate that the Democratic leadership in Sacramento has decided to stand and fight on the budget crisis. Putting a recall on the ballot would seem to rule out any compromise with Denham, and might signal a deeper strategy of going after Republicans who might prefer to use the same delaying tactics that they used to delay the 2007-08 budget by two months.
I've always felt that Democrats were in the driver's seat on the budget this year, as opposed to last summer, and this merely adds to that view. Democrats have nothing to lose and everything to gain by refusing to destroy public education, health care, and state parks. Laying the blame for this crisis, and the housing crisis, at the feet of Republicans in this manner is very good politics and should be the basis of all Democratic campaigns against GOP candidates in the state this year.
Ultimately, this also helps us get that much closer to 2/3. We're only two seats away in the Senate - SD-12 would join SD-15 and SD-19, where Tom McClintock! is now being termed out, as the key battlegrounds. It's not clear when Arnold will schedule the recall (might I suggest November 4?), but the fight is now on for the state's future.
I just wrote about Jeff Denham a couple of hours ago, but apparently Shane Goldmacher at CapAlert did a bit more digging on the Senator from the Central Valley. It seems that Mr. Denham loves taking credit for cutting his own salary, but still likes the money. You see but he puts some nice spin on it. He eats the cake from the back of the freezer, and keeps the new one for later. Want me to break off the metaphors?
Ok, so here's what's up. The general theory of how Denham played these games is that he would, very publicly, refuse a pay raise. Then a month or two later, he would accept an earlier pay raise. Very sly you see. He stays just one pay raise behind the scale. A few thou a year, nothing too big. And he gets the good press for rejecting the pay raises. All very smooth, unless you have some meddling reporter following your acceptance of these pay raises. So, he gets to complain how awful those other legislators are, and how bad the budget is, all at the same time.
Unfortunately, someone caught him. Darn that meddling Goldmacher! Anyway, FYI, the Recall committee has now spent over $200K getting the recall going. Looks like it might actually happen.
Mr. Goldmacher even provided a handy timetable, check it over the flip...
Senator Jeff Denham(R-SD12), who is facing a possible recall in his moderate district, is raising money. Lots of it. In fact, he found a loophole a mile wide. A loophole so wide as to make a recall attempt possibly a good thing.
According to Sen. Dehnham, there are no contribution limits to an anti-recall account. I've not verified this, but, I have no reason to doubt it. At any rate, I'm sure we can ask some of Gray Davis' old campaign staff. So, in today's Capitol Morning Report, we get this announcement for a fundraiser for Monday:
Jan. 28, Friends of Jeff Denham, Against the Recall (12th SD), reception, Sponsor $25,000, Patron $10,000, Individual $5000, "CA state law does not limit contributions to recall accounts." 5:30 p.m., Mikuni, 1530 J St. Contact: 916 498 9223.
Feel free to give Sen. Denham's campaign staff a call, if you so desire, but I can't imagine there's a whole lot of interesting conversation to be had there. But, if you offer him money, say $25K, you might get a very receptive audience. While I don't doubt that this is legal, it should be. Both pro-recall, and anti-recall, campaigns should be limited to contribution limits. One person, yes, I'm looking at you Mr. "Step Away From the Vehicle", should not be able to recall an elected official by himself. Similarly, one person should not be able to finance the defense of said elected official. The same thing could be said of ballot props, regarding the fact that these were supposed to be populist tools, rather than tools of the wealthy. I suppose I would agree with that statement (and the regulation of funds for props), as well.
The Dump Denham campaign came to life in the midst of last year's budget wrangling, helped in no small part by Senator Don Perata. Well Jeff Denham may or may not ultimately face recall, but he'll be termed out in 2010 if he lasts that long, and it looks like Democrats have themselves a challenger ready. It seems that Assemblymember Cathleen Galgiani recently moved into Denham's Senate district.
Galgiani, who succeeded the ever-popular Barbara Matthews in 2006, says she just wants to live closer to the center of her Assembly District, but it certainly is convenient that she also happens to enter SD-12. Denham's district is at or near the top of nearly every Dem-target list for the near future, especially as the 2/3 rule collides with the year's budget crisis.
Just a hunch, but I'm guessing that budget flexibility is going to become a bigger issue over the course of the year, what with that whole budget shortfall thing. And healthcare funding. And Indian Gaming compacts. Might just be that ambition is finding a place in all this.
Well, it appears, unsurprisingly, that Sen. Don Perata was/is at the center of the "Dump Denham" movement. From Matier and Ross:
Armed with $250,000, Perata launched a recall drive aimed at clipping the Central Valley lawmaker's wings just as he was getting set to run for lieutenant governor.
Now, not only is that run in doubt, but Denham is also fighting just to hold onto his seat - all because of his vote against the state budget. (SF Chron 11/11/07)
Perhaps this gets us one seat closer to 2/3? I know some people will get all upset about using the recall process, but the fact remains that the tool exists. We can't unilaterally disarm; if they use it, so should we.
I mentioned last week that the recall efforts for Sen. Jeff Denham (R-Modesto/Merced/Salinas) were getting to the signature gathering stage. Now, it seems that this movement might have some political muscle behind it after all. When word of support from the CA Dem Party came out through financial statements, everybody assumed that they would back off.
But Don Perata has not backed off. The process needs 31,084 signatures by Feb. 13, and it's looking like that might actually happen:
A political committee with close ties to Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata is spending thousands of dollars to try to recall a sitting Republican state senator in a move the targeted lawmaker called "unprecedented." Campaign statements filed this week show the Voter Education and Registration Fund has spent more than $41,000 on an effort to recall GOP Sen. Jeffrey Denham. ... "I do think the recall will appear on the ballot," said Paul Hefner, a spokesman for Perata and the Voter Education and Registration Fund, "and I do think the voters of the 12th (Senate) District will recall Jeff Denham." (SacBee 10/3/07)
At any rate, you know Denham certainly can't like seeing this story in the Bee. I appreciate Sen. Perata's efforts to get that 2/3 majority that would have ended the budget holdout. I understand there could be some resistance to using the recall tool, however, the tool is there to be used, right?
