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Davis makes history; recall vote set for fall State law requires the election to be held in 60 to 80 days, which would put it on a Tuesday in late September or early October and leave candidates to replace Davis -- if the recall is successful -- only a few days to file. But whether an election for a successor will be held simultaneously or Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante would become governor if Davis is removed has been thrown into question. "All of us were very aware that we were making history and setting precedent," Secretary of State Kevin Shelley said at a Sacramento news conference Wednesday evening after certifying that the petition drive had gotten more than the required 900,000 valid signatures. "We worked very hard to make sure that if the state was going to take this unprecedented step, it would take it deliberately and with full confidence that the process had been followed carefully." The announcement came amid a series of new legal questions about whether the ballot would include the names of candidates to replace Davis. Bustamante has opened the question of whether his responsibility to set the date for the recall election also requires him to call for a simultaneous election of a successor in case voters remove Davis. Davis supporters have speculated that language in the state constitution saying such an election will be called "if appropriate" gives Bustamante the discretion to leave that second question off the ballot, making him the governor if Davis is recalled. Bustamante told the Daily News on Wednesday that he was seeking legal advice from the attorney general, secretary of state and state legislative counsel. "It's a fairly straightforward process," Bustamante said in an interview. "If they say this is the language they recommend, that's what I'll do." But The Associated Press reported that Bustamante believes the decision on an election for a successor should be left to the obscure five-member Commission on the California Governorship or the state Supreme Court. Recall supporters denounced any attempt to keep the names of successors off the ballot as a "palace coup" and thwarting the will of those who signed petitions calling for the successor election. They threatened legal action if necessary. Bustamante had indicated he expected to call the election within 24 hours of Shelley's certification. The lieutenant governor has 10 days after certification to set an election date on any Tuesday unless it follows a Monday holiday, such as Columbus Day, Oct. 13. Barring successful legal challenges, that narrows the likely date for an election to Sept. 23, Sept. 30 or Oct. 7. Bustamante said 60 days is probably too short a time to conduct an election, so it would likely be one of the two later dates in that range. Officials with the recall group Rescue California said they would consider legal action if Bustamante tries to prevent a successor election. "You can rest assured we're not just going to stand by and allow this process to be hijacked at the 11th hour," said Thomas Hiltachk, legal counsel to Rescue California. Davis allies have tried repeatedly to stop certification through court action, but their attempts have been rejected. On Wednesday, they lost their latest effort to obtain a temporary restraining order to stop the certification process until their lawsuit claiming illegalities in the signature-collection process is heard in August.
Two previous requests to the lower court for a restraining order were denied, and their appeal to the 2nd District Court of Appeals
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