Jeff Denham Recall Goes to Ballot Today

Jeff Denham, a California Republican and state senator, is the subject of a recall election in California today. Denham is being punished for standing firm in his refusal to vote in favor of the California budget that was approved by Governor Schwarzenegger.

Denham, a rare politician of principle, stood up to pressure from Democrat senators and refused to vote for the $14 billion budget deficit.

Will Jeff be recalled? Quite probably - not for committing any malfeasance in office, but merely for voting his conscience and those of his district. It's called democracy.

I am disappointed in our wimpoid governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. I am ashamed to say that I voted for him twice, but I will never vote for him again under any circumstances. The governor is a hostage to his liberal Democrat wife who, to borrow a phrase from Rush Limbaugh, keeps the Governor's manhood in a "testical lockbox."

Facts about the Recall:
1. During the 2007 budget battle, Senator Jeff Denham refused to vote for Senator Don Perata’s version of the state budget. That’s because Senator Denham believed the budget was covering up huge deficits. The non-partisan Legislative Analyst proved Denham right, when she announced the Perata budget was actually $10 billion more in debt than previously admitted.

2. To punish Denham for exposing the Perata deficit, Senator Don Perata had a Recall filed against Denham in his district. When local citizens refused to circulate the Recall petitions, Perata’s campaign operatives hired signature collectors, some from out-of-state, to collect Recall petition signatures. Such actions violate California election law.

3. The Recall process became a part of the California Constitution through the reform efforts of Governor Hiram Johnson. Recalls have always been viewed as a means to remove an elected official from public office who has committed a crime or been guilty of malfeasance. The Perata Recall against Senator Jeff Denham has been widely criticized by the district’s editorial boards as an “abuse of the process,” since there are no such accusations against Sen. Denham.

4. Most of the newspapers in the 12th Senate District has condemned Perata’s Recall against Senator Denham as wrong.

5. According to polls, a majority of both Republicans and Democrats believe the Recall is wrong and plan to vote against it. Prominent elected Democrats from every county in the 12th Senate District have joined with elected Republicans and non-partisan officeholders to condemn the Recall.

6. The Perata Recall against Senator Denham will appear on the June 3rd ballot, and is expected to be defeated by a large margin.

Let's hope so.

UPDATE: Jeff Denham easily defeated the recall. The AP says:

Voters in Denham's central California district soundly rejected an attempt
Tuesday to recall the Merced Republican. With 31 percent of precincts
reporting, more than 78 percent of voters were opposing the recall.