Assemblywoman Alyson Huber targeted for recall

Tony Andrade, a former state worker who helped lead the movement to recall former governor Gray Davis, is spearheading an effort to remove Democratic Assemblywoman Alyson Huber, who represents Lodi.

Andrade said he is trying to recall Huber because she is a "clone of Nancy Pelosi" and is too liberal for the 10th Assembly District.

In a statement, Huber said she is the target of the recall because some people are upset about the outcome of the 2008 election in which she narrowly defeated Jack Sieglock by 474 votes. She said her rivals want to play political games.

"Should the proponents continue their efforts, instead of waiting for next election, the recall will cost local taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars," she said.

Virginia Bloom, assistant registrar of voters for San Joaquin County, said a recall election for the 10th District would most likely be done at polls instead of through the mail. She said it costs $7.50 per voter for polled elections, as opposed to $5 a voter for mail ballots. She said there are 62,561 registered voters within the 10th District in San Joaquin county. A special election in San Joaquin county alone would cost roughly $470,000.

Huber said the recall attempt is political posturing.

"I'm confident my constituents see this for what it is — just another political game; and they will reject it just like the recall attempts against Republican Senator Jeff Denham and former Democratic Assemblymember Mike Machado," Huber said.

Denham survived a recall effort in 2008 that was started by former Senate Pro-Tem Don Perata in 2007. Denham serves Modesto and the surrounding communities, and plans on running for lieutenant-governor in 2010. Machado served Assembly District 17 and easily beat a recall in 1995. He left office in 2000.

Recalls at a glance

In 1994, Paul Horcher was removed from the Assembly and Gary Miller was elected in his place. Horcher voted for Willie Brown to remain Speaker and he renounced his affiliation with the GOP prior to being recalled. Miller is a Congressman who serves the 42nd Congressional District.

In 1995, Doris Allen was recalled from the Assembly and Scott Baugh was elected as her successor. Allen fell out of favor with her fellow Republicans when she made a deal with Democrats that moved her to the position of Speaker. She was the first woman to hold that position in California. She resigned the position and was later recalled. Baugh serves as the Chairman of the Republican Party of Orange County.

In a press release, Andrade said the Recall Huber Committee is pushing to remove her from office because she has voted to increase taxes and wants a constitutional convention that could repeal Proposition 13.

Huber was raised in Lodi and graduated from Lodi High School. She serves the 10th Assembly District, which includes El Dorado, Amador, Sacramento and San Joaquin counties.

Andrade said he considered waiting to back another candidate during the 2010 election, but decided to move forward in his effort to try and recall Huber. "The timing is right," Andrade said.

He said the anxiety in the community regarding tax increases, as well as the uncertainty in the economy because of President Barack Obama's policies, have lead to TEA Parties and people wanting to reign in government spending and taxes. Andrade, a regular contributor to the Web site electoralreformcalifornia.com, said his campaign is grassroots and will go door-to-door in order to collect the more than 37,000 signatures needed to get the recall measure on the ballot. He said there are 150 volunteers working on the effort. The Secretary of State's office said no deadline is available for the special election since Andrade must re-file his petition. Once his paperwork is accepted, then the office can create a calendar for a special election.

Andrade learned on Thursday he must redo his request because his Notice of Intention did not include provisions of Section 11020. The provision requires the person filing the recall papers to include a brief rebuttal from the person whom they are trying to remove from office. Andrade said having to repetition his request is a minor setback, one he expects to have corrected sometime next week. "We will get the same 40 people to sign it again."

According to the Secretary of State's Web site, there have been 46 attempted recalls of Assemblymembers since 1913. Of those, two attempts were successful. Both those recalled — and their replacements — were Republicans.

Reader Feedback

Janice M. Bonser wrote on Aug 1, 2009 1:18 PM:

" Alyson ! ! ! Leave Proposition 13 alone. Property taxes are already too high ! ! ! "

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