Colorado: Signatures certified in Trinidad Councilman recall

City Councilman Alfredo Pando looks like he will face a recall in the next few months. The clerk certified 661 signatures. Petitioners needed 591 (they submitted 817).

Wisconsin: Recalls going to cost money

Here

Colorado: Three members of Cherokee Metropolitan District facing May 22 recall

Three members of the Cherokee Metropolitan District are facing a recall vote on May 22. Janet Cederberg, David Hammers and William Beahan are all facing a recall backed by a group called Concerned Citizens of Cimarron Hill. What is particularly interesting is that there is an election on May 8 for the two other members of the board (and there is a continual battle of the board members).


Petitioners needed 300 signatures. One of the two members of the board who are not facing a recall hot elected in a recall of former board chairman Robert Lovato on Dec. 7, 2010, with 1,325 of 1,616 voters agreeing to oust Lovato.

Arizona: Bill to reimburse Pearce fails

The bill was from the Senate due to lack of support.

Massachusetts: Judge hears arguments on Bridgewater recall

Excellent article here by Rebecca Hyman on the legal arguments surrounding the Bridgewater Town Council recall. A couple of key points:

As I mentioned earlier, the two Councilors facing the recall are claiming that the law was written before the Town Council existed and includes the defunct Board of Selectmen. Their argument is that the recall was not included in the new charter. The other major arguments is similar to one we saw played out in Jasper, Texas -- the recall allows signatures from everyone in the town to count, even though the officials are elected on a district-based system. Once again, this seems to be a case of not considering the recall when adopting new rules.

Judge Cosgrove seemed to take a big statement in favor of the councilors first argument, noting:

 “It does strike me that a recall election is a fairly significant aspect of the whole governing scheme involving great expense to the town, expenditure of effort on the part of town officials and disruption of the normal electoral process,” Cosgrove told Costello
“It seems like a pretty significant omission when you’re adopting a new charter to simply leave it out without any reference to it and then say it just carries over from the prior form of government,” Cosgrove said.

As to the second point:

Most glaringly, he said, the recall law states in “clear and unambiguous language” that recall petitions must be signed by 10 percent of registered voters of the town. Adams did not have the authority to re-interpret that to mean 10 percent of the voters in a district, Pignone said.

Arizona: Conference Committee passes law providing for payment to recalled Senator for campaign expenses

In what looks like the final push to pay recalled Senate Majority Leader Russell Pearce for campaign expenses, a Conference Committee attached an amendment setting forth how the payments can be made to the Senate bill requiring recall primaries. Pearce would still have to apply to the legislature for the money, but the amendment gives a two year window, retroactive to 2011.

A couple of points. 1) I always find it strange that a conference committee can write a new law that did not pass either house of the legislature. 2) Despite the legitimate complaints that this is about Pearce, it seems that the state should have a law clarifying the Arizona Constitution's provisions on paying officials for recall expenses. Either set out the provisions in a law or amend the constitution and get rid of the clause.

California: Recalled Shasta Lake City Councilwoman asks city to pay her legal defense bill

Dolores Lucero, who was kicked out of office in an overwhelming recall vote in April, has asked Shasta Lake to reimburse her for hiring an attorney for the legal challenge to her recall, as well as for criminal charges on

Lucero is claiming that she is a whistleblower.

Oregon: Hemiston mayor and four city councilors facing June 5 recall

Hermiston Mayor Bob Severson and city councilors Frank Harkenrider, Jackie Myers, Rod Hardin and Joe Harn are all running in a June 5 recall. If all five officials are recalled, county commissioners will appoint replacements. If four or less are recalled, a quorum of members will remain and councilors could appoint replacements.

Colorado: No contenders yet in Hot Sulphur Mayoral recall

The recall will still be held on June 19, though. If nobod runs, the Mayor Pro Tem will be mayor until the board fills the seat.

Michigan: Language for attempt to recall Senate Majority Leader rejected as unclear

Monroe County Board of Canvassers unanimously rejected the language of a petition to recall the Republican Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville. The Board rejected the language as unclear (one part of the petition complaints of a new US-Canada bridge in Detroit).

As we've seen before, this is standard procedure in Michigan recalls, and new language can be submitted.

Oregon: No signatures handed in for the Douglas County Commissioner recall

The deadline for the recall of Douglas County Commissioner Joe Laurance passed without any signatures handed in. Petitioners needed 6,500, and the treasurer of the recall committee claims they got half that.


The recall was started due to reports that Laurance impersonated a sheriff's deputy while driving his county-owned car and profanely addressing county employees and the public.

Wisconsin: Poll shows Barret and Walker in deadheat

Barrett 47-46% among registered voters, Walker 48-47% among likely.

New Jersey: Recall petition of Emerson Councilwoman withdrawn

That was fast -- one day later, the petitions to recall an Emerson Councilwoman was ditched by its supporters.

California: Oakland mayor recall looks bleak

Here's a report stating that the mayoral recall effort is definitely not picking up steam -- petitioners have 7,000 signatures, but need 20,000. They also have had a hard time raising money.

Arizona: Pearce's allies still looking at possible reimbursement

Even though the budget passed on Tuesday, allies of Senator Russell Pearce are still looking to reimburse him for recall expenses.

Wisconsin: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Profiles of the Democratic contenders

Here's Barrett's profile

Idaho: Coeur d'Alene recall law interpretation gains approval of Idaho Secretary of State

Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa backed up Coeur d'Alene's interpretation of its recall election law. The interpretation holds that the 75-day time frame noted in the law includes the 15 days the county clerk has to certify the signatures on the petition. Seems a little strange, as it means that the recall really only gets 60 days.

California: City Attorney claims Oakland Mayor recall will use ranked choice voting

In the first step in a sure-fire litigation, Oakland City Attorney wrote the following opinion, which will not be the last word, arguing that a mayoral (or other) recall in Oakland will use ranked choice voting. If the recall gets on the ballot (I haven't seen much coverage of it recently, so no idea on its likelihood of success), there is an absolute certainty that this will result in litigation and appeals. Once again, the issue here is simply poor drafting and not thinking about the recall at all.

Here is a previous post on the issue of Oakland and ranked choice recall.

There is also a new poll out on the Mayor Jean Quan recall. Despite an unsettling 73% "fair or poor" rating for Quan, 57% of voters claim to be opposed to a recall. 

Wisconsin: Kleefisch raises $540K

Raising quite a bit less than the Governor, Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch reported raising $540,000, with $424,000 on hand.

Wisconsin: Senate recall campaign finance reports out

Big money reports from the some of the Senate recalls.



Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald has raised $230,000 and has $430,000 cash on hand. His presumed opponent Democrat Lori Compas has raised $100,000 and has $85,000 on hand.

In the Pam Galloway replacement race, Democratic state Rep. Donna Seidel raised $97,000 and has $38,000 in the bank.  Republican state Rep. Jerry Petrowski of Marathon raised $87,000, but has $79,000 left.