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Recall Backers Assert Victory in Signature Drive The signed petitions, which accuse Davis of "gross mismanagement," must be verified by county election officials and certified by Secretary of State Kevin Shelley. If enough signatures are verified, state officials would set an election date either in the fall or next March, with voters deciding whether to remove Davis from office and at the same time selecting a replacement. "We're done," said Dave Gilliard, director of Rescue California, a pro-recall group founded by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), the campaign's main financier and the first declared candidate for governor in a potential recall election. "Today we have been calling in everyone from the field, stopping the paid signature campaign." That could set off a chain of legal and political contests, as candidates consider their options and opponents of the recall debate whether to challenge it in court. Already, some officials said, the recall threat is having a damaging impact on state finances. "This is as historic a date for the recall movement as Proposition 13 was for the ballot initiative," said Dan Schnur, a Republican political consultant. "Whether or not Davis is removed from office, this is going to be something that historians look back at as an expression of direct democracy in a way that's never been accomplished. For some people, it's a great day. For others, it's a day that will live in infamy." Recall strategists said they were confident they had more than 1.2 million signatures, enough to force the election. But the decision to stop collecting more was seen as a risky move by some political analysts, because of the legal vagaries of signature-gathering for ballot initiatives and recall efforts. "I've seen too many times where people think they're going to get an issue on the ballot or even a candidate on the ballot, and it doesn't happen," said Darry Sragow, a Democratic consultant. "The fact that they're stopping is curious. This is a business where the count is very unforgiving and there can be endless legal challenges." Democrats and Republicans, in fact, now expect Davis and his supporters to unleash a legal counterattack, contesting such issues as whether signature gatherers met the specified requirements or misrepresented their cause, analysts said. Workers for Rescue California were paid based on the number of valid signatures they obtained. Evolving rapidly from a topic of discussion on conservative talk radio into a statewide campaign, the effort to remove Davis from office reached critical mass in recent weeks after an infusion of more than $800,000 from Issa. "Without Darrell Issa writing the checks, we wouldn't even be entertaining the notion that the recall would qualify," said Sragow. "If the recall does qualify, then the fight begins. And it's going to be an absolutely tumultuous time. What you're doing is guaranteeing absolute chaos through 2004 if this happens." The only other declared candidate to replace Davis is Peter Camejo, the failed Green Party candidate for governor last November. Other Republicans believed to be considering a run include actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and Bill Simon Jr., the losing Republican candidate against Davis in last year's election. So far, prominent state Democrats have insisted that they will stand by the governor and not appear on the ballot.
Rescue California officials said they have 1.2 million signatures, and two other anti-Davis groups claim to have another 200,000 between them. Election experts say the 1.2-million mark is
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