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Davis makes history; recall vote set for fall There have been 31 previous attempts to recall a governor of California, but none made it on the ballot. The only American governor to be recalled from office was Lynn J. Frazier of North Dakota, in 1921. Davis was re-elected only eight months ago, but the state budget crisis ballooned a few months after the November vote, leading recall proponents to claim he hid the true extent of the problem during the campaign, a charge he has repeatedly denied. Shelley's office said 1,356,408 signatures had been verified, out of 1,651,191 submitted to county officials overall. The verification was based on a random 3 percent sampling. To trigger the election, 897,158 signatures were required, or 12 percent of the most recent gubernatorial vote. Los Angeles County, the state's biggest, contributed almost one-third of the needed signatures. Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Conny McCormack said her office calculated 275,554 valid signatures, based on a random sampling from 331,513 raw signatures and a verification rate of 83 percent. Davis, 60, said he is prepared for the battle ahead. "I've had to fight for everything in my life and, trust me, I've had more political obituaries written about me than you could possibly imagine," he said on KFWB-AM (980) radio. "I believe in the end that this is more about changing directions than changing governors, and I don't think the people of the state want to trade in a progressive agenda for a right-wing agenda." Meanwhile, potential candidates to replace Davis moved closer to making their official declarations. They must file 65 signatures from registered voters with their party and pay $3,500 no later than 59 days before the election -- giving them from one to 21 days to act, depending when Bustamante schedules the vote. Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, filed paperwork Wednesday to form an "exploratory committee" to look at a possible gubernatorial bid, but stopped short of officially declaring himself a candidate. Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger is also considered a likely candidate. He still had not made a decision as of Wednesday, but has signed up a press spokesman, separate from the political strategist he has consulted with for years. The spokesman, Sean Walsh, was the spokesman for the state's previous Republican governor, Pete Wilson, and worked in the White House. Schwarzenegger has also signed power-of-attorney forms in case the filing period occurs while he is out of town promoting his latest film, "Terminator 3." Former Mayor Richard Riordan has said he will not run if Schwarzenegger does, while Assemblyman Keith Richman, R-Granada Hills, has said he will run only if Riordan or Schwarzenegger do not. Businessman Bill Simon, who lost to Davis last year, is also eyeing a run. The declared candidates are U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, who funded much of the signature drive; John Birke, a Democratic attorney from Woodland Hills; and the Green Party's Peter Camejo. ---
Harrison Sheppard can be reached at (213) 978-0390 and harrison.sheppard@dailynews.com.
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