 |
 -0 |
 |
|
||||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
|
Recall is on SUPPORTERS HIT ROADBLOCKS Davis' supporters moved quickly Wednesday to stall the recall but hit more roadblocks. They want a judge to resolve questions about whether thousands of signatures on the recall petition were collected by circulators working illegally. An appeals court in Los Angeles, however, rejected their request for a restraining order Wednesday, and Davis' supporters filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court. If the legal issues are resolved quickly, candidates will start piling into the race. Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger is meeting with his family and has not decided whether to run, a spokesman said Wednesday. Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, whom Davis helped eliminate from last year's GOP primary, has said he may run if Schwarzenegger doesn't. Financier Bill Simon, who beat Riordan but lost to Davis in the general election eight months ago, is expected to announce Saturday that he is running. State Sen. Tom McClintock, a Republican from Ventura County and darling of conservative talk radio, started a committee Wednesday to start raising money. So far, Davis and his backers have been able to keep any big-name Democrats from jumping into the replacement election. But among other candidates, maverick pundit Arianna Huffington returns from Ireland soon and may decide to run as an independent. Green Party candidate Peter Camejo says he is running as well. CONNERLY INITIATIVE The recall ballot also will include an unrelated initiative sponsored by UC Regent Ward Connerly that would prohibit state and local governments from collecting data on race and ethnicity. A Field Poll released Wednesday showed voters supporting the initiative, 50 to 29 percent. Another initiative on directing more money to roads and state infrastructure also will appear. Recall organizers fretted Wednesday about what Bustamante will do. While the lieutenant governor is required to set the election date, the untested recall statute may give Bustamante the option of calling a vote only on Davis and not immediately scheduling a vote on who would replace the governor. The brewing legal debate is over two seemingly contradictory parts of California law. One requires the lieutenant governor to succeed the governor when there is a vacancy. The other sets up an election to replace the governor in the event a recall is successful. Bustamante said he has left the decision to a team of lawyers -- in Shelley's office, the office of Attorney General Bill Lockyer and the legislative counsel -- and they will decide whether replacement candidates should appear on the ballot. "I'm not a legal scholar," Bustamante said. "I'm not a constitutional lawyer, and so I think it's prudent to have three authorities to prepare the language and move that forward. I don't believe I have discretion in that way." The debate hinges on two words in the constitution that say Bustamante must call an election on a replacement for Davis "if appropriate." Legal scholars say the law has been clear for decades that the language applies to replacing appellate court judges who are recalled. Since appellate judges are appointed, it would not be appropriate to elect successors. Shelley and several legal experts also said any suggestion that Bustamante could block replacement candidates is not grounded in history.
READING OF LAW QUESTIONED
"I think it's an incorrect reading of the law," said Rick Hasen, a California election law expert and professor at Loyola Law School. "(In) Proposition 9 in 1974, which adopted this, there is no discussion that the governor would be subject to different rules and the prior law
|
|
|
