Rescue California

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Recall backers say they're close
Anti-Davis group figures it will have enough signatures by this weekend.

June 27, 2003

SACRAMENTO – Backers of the campaign to recall Democratic Gov. Gray Davis from office say they have collected nearly 900,000 signatures - the minimum needed to qualify for the ballot - and plan a victory celebration on July 4 in Orange County.

Campaign workers will continue to collect signatures through the July 4th weekend, and will submit the documents to election officials as early as July 7, said David Gilliard, a consultant to the campaign, which is called Rescue California. "The bottom line is we're just about there."

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, who hopes to replace Davis and is financing the recall effort, is expected to announce that enough signatures have been collected at a barbecue at the Newport Beach home of Orange County Republican activist Buck Johns.

To qualify the recall for the ballot, the initiative campaign must collect 897,158 valid signatures of registered voters. Gilliard said he expects to hit 900,000 by the weekend, but will continue to collect signatures to reach about 1.3 million - to provide a safety margin in case some signatures are invalid.

"We want an overwhelming message to be sent to the governor and the secretary of state," he said.

Davis political spokesman Roger Salazar was skeptical.

"They claim to have this huge surge but it took a couple of months to get to 380,000 signatures. Whatever numbers they are using now are absolutely inflated. Don't believe all the hype," he said.

Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, required by law to provide updates every 30 days, has reported the receipt of about 400,000 raw signatures, most of which were collected in May.

Shelley, a Democrat, is now verifying those signatures. Next month, his office will announce how many are valid. He also will announce how many new signatures have been turned in, and he will begin verifying those.

Shelley is expected to announce the total number of valid signatures by late August. Republicans believe sufficient signatures will be validated then, and that the recall election could be held as early as Oct. 28 and as late as Nov. 18, with Nov. 4 appearing to be the most likely date.

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