Drive to recall Denham goes beyond budget bad blood with Perata

Sacramento Bee ^ | 4/15/8 | Aurelio Rojas

[SmithL]

His name doesn't appear on the ballot, but state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata is the indisputable driving force behind the recall of Sen. Jeff Denham, the first of a California legislator since 1995.

Ostensibly, the Democratic leader's effort to unseat a Republican who was easily re-elected in 2006 stems from last year's 53-day state budget stalemate. Denham joined his GOP colleagues in voting against the spending plan.

But beyond the bad blood over the budget, a successful recall would move Democrats, who hold a commanding 25-15 lead in the Senate, to within one vote of being able to pass a budget and raise taxes without a Republican vote.

"Besides pure vindictiveness, what's obvious is (Perata) is making an attempt to see if he can get a veto-proof state Senate," said Allan Hoffenblum, editor of the California Target Book, which tracks legislative races.

Recalls are rare in California. Denham is only the ninth state-level officeholder to face such a vote. The Central Valley lawmaker argues that the process "was never meant to intimidate or pressure somebody" into taking a position, and should be used only in cases of "extreme malfeasance."

Democrats made similar complaints about Republicans who launched the 2003 recall of Gov. Gray Davis. But state law allows recalls for any reason, and now Democrats are mounting one against a Republican.

Few competitive seats

Denham's 12th Senate District, which stretches from Stanislaus County to Merced and across the coastal range to Monterey, is an inviting target. It has more registered Democrats (46 percent) than Republicans (36 percent).

There are only a few competitive seats in the Senate; another is the seat being vacated by Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks. If the June 3 Denham recall succeeds, Hoffenblum said, Democrats need only to pick off McClintock's seat to achieve their goal.

[SmithL]

PeRATa Ping!

[goldstategop]

The Democrats have a chance at absolute power and will let nothing get in the way of attaining it.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[Right Cal Gal]

They may register Democrat, but they vote Republican/conservative.

And Perata should remember that he was the poster boy for the defeat of the term limit changes - everyone knew it was a way for him to hang on to power. My guess is he may have managed to get the requisite number of signatures, but the good ol’ boys in the Central Valley won’t let him get away with it.

[Scothia]

I live in Denham’s district and know how many of these signatures were “collected”. Hiring lackeys to accost people in the Safeway parking lot is one thing; getting them to show up at the polls and throw out a decent representative is another.

[Arthalion]

Same here. It’s well documented that the paid signature gatherers were flat out lying to people in order to get their signatures. Denham’s well respected around here, and is in no real danger. One of the nice things about being in the Valley is that most of our Democrats are of the old-fashioned conservative type, and real leftist liberals are still kind of rare. Perata wants a liberal in the seat, and there’s no way he’s going to get one.