Orange County recall effort clears hurdle

Signature threshold has been met in bid to unseat Democrat who voted for tax hikes.

SACRAMENTO — Elections officials on Friday reported more than enough voter signatures to force a recall election of an Orange County legislator before the end of the year.

Signatures verified by officials in Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties would require a special election for voters to consider removing state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) less than a year into his four-year term in office.

The three counties reported a total of 66,597 signatures had been verified — more than the 63,593 needed to place the issue in front of Newman’s constituents.

A spokesman for Secretary of State Alex Padilla had no update on the tally Friday. Signatures are verified in county elections offices and then reported to Padilla’s office.

Jim Brulte, the chairman of the California Republican Party, said the process shouldn’t take long.

“All Alex Padilla needs is 30 seconds and a calculator,” Brulte said.

Newman, who won a close contest in November in a district formerly represented by a Republican, has been under fire from conservative activists since voting in April for a $52-billion transportation plan that raises gas taxes and imposes a new annual vehicle fee.

On Monday, a state appeals court placed a hold on a new law that would have delayed the final certification of the recall election. That law would have also allowed time for voters to remove their names from the recall petition.

Democrats have accused recall supporters of promising voters that they were signing petitions to repeal the new gas tax, not to remove Newman from office.

“Thousands of voters have asked to have their names removed from the petition after learning they’d been lied to,” Newman said in a statement released by his campaign. “The Registrar’s signature count reflects nothing more than a massive flaw in the recall system that has allowed paid, out-of-district special interests to trick voters into signing an intentionally misleading petition.”

State law gives Padilla 10 days to certify the signature count. Gov. Jerry Brown must then call a special election for Newman’s seat within 80 days of the certification, which means an election would be held by midNovember.

‘All Alex Padilla needs is 30 seconds and a calculator.’ — Jim Brulte, chairman of the California Republican Party