California governor says he does not fear recall election
ERICA WERNER, Associated Press WriterTuesday, July 22, 2003
(07-22) 17:34 PDT LOS ANGELES (AP) --
As the recall drive against Democratic Gov. Gray Davis steamed toward the ballot Tuesday, Davis predicted he would defeat it and potential opponents readied for a campaign that could begin within days.
"If the people want me to present my credentials again, I do not fear them," Davis said during an appearance at an East Los Angeles health clinic.
"I expect the governor to be recalled by a substantial margin. The only thing that's in doubt is who will replace him," said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, the only declared major-party candidate for Davis' job.
Elections officials in California's 58 counties have until 5 p.m. Wednesday to finish counting 1.6 million signatures and verifying them through a random sampling process. Proponents need 897,158 valid signatures to get the measure on the ballot.
If counties report more than 110 percent of the needed valid signatures, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley will certify that the recall has qualified. He could make the announcement as early as Wednesday.
Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante would then schedule an election within 60 to 80 days. He said Tuesday he would announce the election date the morning after the recall is certified. Counties have discussed Sept. 30 and Oct. 7 as possible dates.
Candidates would have to file campaign papers at least 59 days before the election, meaning they would have little time no matter which date is selected.
"We expect any campaign to be prepared for any eventuality," said Chris Wysocki, spokesman for Rescue California Recall Gray Davis, the main recall committee. "We've communicated with all of the possible campaigns that we're aware of that we could be on a very short timeframe and they need to get their ducks in a row."
Aside from Issa, potential Republican candidates include businessman Bill Simon, who lost to Davis in November, and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger returned Tuesday from promoting "Terminator 3" in Europe and his political adviser said he expects him to run.
Simon has been readying a campaign team and talking to donors. He discussed his potential candidacy on talk radio Tuesday and planned a political speech Thursday.
"When we get an election called in the next few days he'll be prepared to act," said Sal Russo, Simon's chief adviser during his campaign last year.
Issa had collected thousands of dollars in contributions by Tuesday on a campaign Web site he had launched the day before, Issa spokesman Jonathan Wilcox said.
Nearly 400,000 valid signatures had been turned in by Tuesday afternoon, secretary of state officials said, and some of the larger counties did not plan to report until Wednesday.
As Davis confronted the probability of becoming the first California governor ever to face a recall election, he and legislators in Sacramento continued to wrestle to solve a $38.2 billion budget shortfall.
"This election is not about changing governors, it's about changing direction, and I am confident the voters of this state will not opt for a right-wing agenda over a progressive agenda," Davis said.
Without mentioning him by name the governor also attacked Issa, who funded the recall drive.
"I don't think any person's personal agenda ought to be the reason to put this state through the wringer," he said, referring to the projected $30 million to $35 million cost of an election.
"I provided the fuel but this recall was clearly of Gray's making," Issa countered in a telephone interview. "He created the deficit problem and the driving out of California's business, he lied about it in the last election and he has no plan to fix it. That's the reason that the voters have lost faith in Gray Davis."
Davis supporters were still pursuing a court challenge to stop Shelley from certifying the recall until a hearing on their allegations that signatures were gathered illegally. But no action was taken on an appeal they filed Monday.
A recall ballot would have two parts: Voters would vote yes or no on recalling Davis, and would then choose from a list of candidates to replace him.
