Legal twists on recall continue
One suit names Bustamante but also supports him as successor; a second may fight punch cards.
By Claire Cooper and Gary Delsohn -- Bee Staff Writers
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Thursday, July 31, 2003
The legal intrigue surrounding the recall of Gov. Gray Davis continued Wednesday with the filing of a second suit aimed at installing Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante as governor if Davis is ousted on Oct. 7.The latest defendant: Bustamante.
Among those suing him in the new California Supreme Court case is former Assemblyman Barry Keene, the author of a 1974 state constitutional amendment that, according to the suit, designates the lieutenant governor as the only possible successor to a recalled governor. Bustamante was sued as the officer in charge of the recall election.
An aide said Bustamante, who last week suggested the issue might be decided by the state Supreme Court but later stopped short of pushing it himself, had nothing to do with its filing.
"Whatever the court requires is what we'll do," said Lynn Montgomery, Bustamante's chief of staff.
Another legal action also loomed. The NAACP and the California Federation of Labor scheduled a telephone press conference for today that NAACP President Alice Huffman said would address "voter disenfranchisement" in connection with the recall election.
The NAACP is considering a lawsuit over the likelihood that several counties will have to use Florida-style punch-card voting systems in the recall election because more modern equipment is not ready for use.
Lawyers for the group are exploring the connections between California's current situation and the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Florida recount question in the 2000 presidential race. The court in Bush vs. Gore acknowledged equal protection problems in the recount process related to inconsistencies in the ways counties validated punch-card ballots.
Davis, meanwhile, was in full campaign mode Wednesday, giving interviews and running to keep his job, while his two most worrisome potential Republican challengers were closeted away still trying to make up their minds whether to run. Aug. 9 is the deadline for gubernatorial hopefuls to declare their candidacies.
The suspense surrounding whether film star Arnold Schwarzenegger will run for the job, meanwhile, began to resemble a daytime soap opera.
He wasn't talking Wednesday, his 56th birthday, even after a spokesman for the state Republican Party went on talk radio and said he had it "confirmed" that Schwarzenegger had decided against running.
A short time later, Sean Walsh, an ex-aide to former Gov. Pete Wilson who would presumably work in a Schwarzenegger campaign, said once again that the man known around the world simply by his first name had not completely closed the door.
Advisers have said in recent weeks that, while Schwarzenegger very much wants to run, his wife, Maria Shriver, has serious reservations about the idea.
"We have stated that we expect him to announce by the end of the week," Walsh said in a prepared statement. "Nothing has changed. Mr. Schwarzenegger is still leaning against a candidacy at this time."
It was that kind of day.
Political strategists who've been close to former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan got so many calls from reporters that Lisa Wolf, a longtime spokeswoman, took time from her Maine vacation to return the calls and explain that Riordan is undecided.
Riordan, who has said he'll probably run if Schwarzenegger doesn't, has spent the week considering which campaign consulting team he might use.
"Everyone's waiting to see what Arnold does -- definitely, most certainly, Mayor Riordan," Wolf said. "Once Arnold decides, the mayor is going to have to make a very quick and serious decision."
Also avoiding direct comment was President Bush, who again refused to take sides Wednesday in the recall election.
"I view it as an interested political observer would view it. We don't have recalls in Texas, thankfully," Bush, a former Texas governor, said at a White House Rose Garden news conference. "The people of California, it's their opinion that matters."
Davis, meanwhile, was wasting no time. Giving his usual round of Wednesday radio interviews, he added NBC-TV's popular "Today" show to his schedule and repeated his vows not to resign.
"I have an obligation to the 8 million people that went to the polls a year ago and elected me for four years," the Democratic governor told "Today" anchor Matt Lauer.
"A far smaller amount signed these petitions. So yes, we have our problems, but I have to keep faith with the promise I made to the voters last November, and I'm in this to the end."
Davis also reacted strongly to earlier reports that two members of his own party, Reps. Cal Dooley, D-Hanford, and Loretta Sanchez, D-Garden Grove, were urging Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to put her name on the ballot. Democrats have tried to present a united front to the Republican-backed recall, and for the most part have managed to keep serious Democratic contenders off the ballot.
"I believe you'll see at least one of the two people who were mentioned express a contrary point of view in the next 24 hours. ... (and) understand that the best chance for a Democrat in the governor's office lies with me and beating the recall and that requires a solid Democratic front," Davis said during a visit to a battered women's shelter in San Francisco's Chinatown. "And I think you'll see that forthcoming by the end of the week."
Because Davis used the pronoun "she" at another point in referring to the Democratic detractor, it was assumed he was talking about Sanchez, who could not be reached for comment.
The court battles surrounding the first statewide recall in California history were just as much up in the air.
The state Supreme Court court set deadlines for preliminary written arguments that run through next week on Keene's case and three more:
* Another suit filed Wednesday concerning the qualifications for candidates who want to be listed on the ballot.
* An earlier suit similar to Keene's, naming Secretary of State Kevin Shelley as the defendant.
* An earlier suit attempting to remove two initiatives from the recall ballot.
Phil Paule, political director of Rescue California, called the Keene suit "an attempt to thwart the 1.6 million people who signed the recall petition." He said no decision had been made about whether to oppose the suit in court.
Jonathan Wilcox, a spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista, a Republican who aspires to succeed Davis, said the Issa committee didn't expect to have to appear in court to defend the recall because it expects the lawsuits to fall by the wayside.
Spokesman Gabriel Sanchez said the Gov. Gray Davis Committee wasn't involved with any of the suits.
About the Writer
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The Bee's Gary Delsohn can be reached at (916) 326-5545 or
[email protected].