Over the weekend the CDP resolutions committee endorsed the recall of Jeff Denham in SD-12.  The Republicans have thrown a massive hissy fit over this, similar to the hissy fit Yacht Party regulars like Sam Blakeslee have thrown, denouncing those who dare to identify his record in public.  All of a sudden we’re seeing op-eds throughout the region and across the state decrying what is routinely identified as a “Don Perata-engineered power grab.”  The latest comes from the fount of conventional wisdom in the California political media, George Skelton:

This is the time of year when the northern San Joaquin Valley is actually bucolic. Temperatures are bearable. The hills are green and the orchards are in full bloom — almonds gussied in white, peaches in pink.

Too bad that this spring there’s also a foul odor of Sacramento political pollution.

In a nutshell, the local state senator — Republican Jeff Denham of Merced — didn’t vote for the state budget last summer. That contributed to a 52-day stalemate and angered the Senate leader, Democrat Don Perata of Oakland. So Perata now is trying to recall Denham.

Not just a payback, but the political death penalty.

Funny, I don’t remember such high dudgeon back in 2003, when the recall of Gray Davis was viewed as a victory for democracy and an opportunity for the people to have their say.

Here’s what’s actually going on.  Professional hack Kevin Spillane is good at getting his propaganda into the papers.  And the media obliges without any historical perspective whatsoever.  If Republicans want to put forth a measure ending recall petitions and allowing any state officer to finish out their term, go ahead; I’d probably support it.  But they don’t.  They want to use the recall when it suits them and whine about “fairness” and “power grabs” when it doesn’t.  There could not have possibly been a bigger power grab than the Darrell Issa and Ted Costa-funded recall of Gray Davis.  Anyone in the so-called liberal media dumb enough not to understand this notion of asymmetrical warfare isn’t worth reading.

I fear that the Spillane hack-o-thon is bearing fruit in scaring off Democrats from pressing forward on this recall; there certainly wasn’t a lot of talk about it or enthusiasm at the convention, nor was there any potential challenger in sight pressing the flesh.  The Denham recall, in fact, is what the process was invented for: when legislators protect their own or their party’s interest at the expense of the people they should be held accountable.  Jeff Denham is part of an effort to stop California lawmakers from doing their jobs and eliminate, for practical purposes, the role of government in the state.  The Iron Law of Institutions dictate that “people within institutions act to increase their own power rather than the power of the institution itself.”  The only way to deal with that from the outside is use the legal tools available to exact leverage on the institution.  If it was OK for a Republican to use, so too for a Democrat.

So these media types and their hacktastic Republican spinmeisters can shut their whiny little mouths and defend their role in the shutdown of democracy in California to the voters.  Jeff Denham ought to be able to defend himself instead of crying about the “process.”

This is a pretty big deal.  I really hadn’t been paying much attention to this recall possibility, but it’s come to fruition.  There have only been 8 other recall elections of sitting state legislators to qualify for the ballot in the past 90 years.  Jeff Denham becomes the ninth.

The recall attempt of Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Atwater, has gathered enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced Tuesday.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger must set the recall election for a date 60 to 80 days from today, Bowen’s office reports.

Once the Governor sets the date, (it seems almost certain that he’ll pick June 3, which is 77 days away and also the day of the statewide primary) candidates can emerge.  And given Sen. Perata’s interest in this race, I think we’ll see some strong Democrats contest this seat, unlike the somewhat shameful behavior in SD-15, where apparently Abel Maldonado’s vote for last year’s budget got him a reprieve from any challenge (right now there’s no Democrat on the ballot to face Maldonado, though a write-in campaign still has time to emerge).  However, this does put the Senate in play to flip to a 2/3 majority, given this race and the race in SD-19 with Hannah-Beth Jackson versus Tony Strickland.

Like the gubernatorial recall in 2003, there will be two questions on the ballot.  The first will ask if Denham should be recalled, and the second will ask who among a list of challengers should replace him.

It seems to me that this is an excellent opportunity to message-test the major themes around the budget, revenues, and spending in advance of the nasty legislative fight and the November general election.  While I don’t expect this recall to be as exciting as Gray Davis’, or to feature Gary Coleman, to the extent that it’s a referendum on failed conservative ideology I think it could be extremely revelatory.

Robert is our resident expert in this neck of the state, I expect him to chime in.

UPDATE: Apparently, the old No on 93 team is getting back together to support Denham.  So expect them to make this about Perata and a power grab.  Whatever they choose, this will be extremely costly to the CRP at a time when they don’t have the money.  And they have to be extremely nervous about this stat:

The recall campaign, funded by the Democratic Party and a campaign committee linked to Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, turned in more than 61,000 signatures last month, nearly double the 31,084 need to qualify.

I would guess that 61,000 voters would be more than enough to dump Denham in June.

On Friday we learned that 50,000 signatures to put a recall of Jeff Denham on the ballot were turned in to registrars in SD-12. Today the Salinas Californian reports that Simón Salinas is willing to put his name to voters as a replacement should the recall pass:

If (the recall) happens,” said Salinas, a former assemblyman, “I am willing to say, look at my credentials, and certainly ask for (voters’) support.”…

He said he’s played no role in the signature gathering to qualify the recall for the ballot. But if it qualifies, Salinas said, the Democratic Party needs to be ready to offer an experienced candidate.

“My concern is, if it happens, we need effective representation,” he said.

The county supervisor added that he is now ready to return to Sacramento state government.

“I have taken my break,” he said. “My son is going to be going to college, so I figure I have the time.”

Salinas used to represent AD-28, which includes the Salinas Valley (also in Denham’s SD-12) until he was termed out in 2006, and is now a member of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. He supports closing Prop 13 tax loopholes, universal health care (though undefined as to how to achieve it), and clean money. By all accounts he’s popular in the city of Salinas, which he represents on the board of supervisors, and would presumably make a strong candidate to replace Denham.

And as we saw in 2003, the chances of a successful recall increase if you can get voters excited about someone waiting in the wings to replace the recall target. Salinas is, of course, a much better politician than Arnold, but if he can rally voters to his cause, then Denham is in even more trouble than it had appeared on Friday.

As Lucas noted in then Open Thread, the campaign to recall GOP Sen. Jeff Denham (SD-12) today announced today it plans to turn in 50,000 signatures and put the recall on the ballot. As early as this morning Don Perata wasn’t sure if he wanted to proceed with the recall but clearly he has decided to do it. From a press release sent to me by the Dump Denham campaign:

The Dump Denham effort submitted some 50,000 recall petition signatures Friday, enough to force Jeff Denham to answer to voters for breaking his promises to schools, secretly raising his own pay, and blocking legislation to help homeowners facing foreclosure.

“We’ve had enough of Jeff Denham’s broken promises, his back-room deals with special interests and his dishonest way of treating the people who elected him – starting with his very own paycheck,” said Gary Robbins, leader of the recall drive. “By signing these petitions, 50,000 voters are saying ‘we can’t wait three years for honest representation.’ It’s time to dump Jeff Denham.”

…Despite the recall petitions circulated against him through the fall, Denham continued to treat his constituents with contempt, voting to kill urgent legislation to help homeowners facing foreclosure in the subprime mortgage crisis.

“For Denham to turn his back on us when thousands of us are losing their homes – just to curry favor with some of the very the bankers who caused this crisis – was the last straw,” Robbins said.

Clearly the campaign has found its narrative, it’s “elevator speech” explaining why a recall is necessary – that Denham broke his promises on education, misled constituents to get a pay raise, and most significantly, blocked efforts to provide relief to homeowners facing foreclosure.

That last item, said to be the “last straw” by the campaign, is significant. Denham’s district, which includes Modesto, Merced, and Salinas is among the hardest hit places in the world by the bursting of the housing bubble (only Stockton is worse off). Perata obviously believes that this creates an opportunity to go after Denham, and it’s hard to disagree.

Additionally, this may indicate that the Democratic leadership in Sacramento has decided to stand and fight on the budget crisis. Putting a recall on the ballot would seem to rule out any compromise with Denham, and might signal a deeper strategy of going after Republicans who might prefer to use the same delaying tactics that they used to delay the 2007-08 budget by two months.

I’ve always felt that Democrats were in the driver’s seat on the budget this year, as opposed to last summer, and this merely adds to that view. Democrats have nothing to lose and everything to gain by refusing to destroy public education, health care, and state parks. Laying the blame for this crisis, and the housing crisis, at the feet of Republicans in this manner is very good politics and should be the basis of all Democratic campaigns against GOP candidates in the state this year.

Ultimately, this also helps us get that much closer to 2/3. We’re only two seats away in the Senate – SD-12 would join SD-15 and SD-19, where Tom McClintock! is now being termed out, as the key battlegrounds. It’s not clear when Arnold will schedule the recall (might I suggest November 4?), but the fight is now on for the state’s future.

The Dump Denham campaign came to life in the midst of last year’s budget wrangling, helped in no small part by Senator Don Perata.  Well Jeff Denham may or may not ultimately face recall, but he’ll be termed out in 2010 if he lasts that long, and it looks like Democrats have themselves a challenger ready.  It seems that Assemblymember Cathleen Galgiani recently moved into Denham’s Senate district.

Galgiani, who succeeded the ever-popular Barbara Matthews in 2006, says she just wants to live closer to the center of her Assembly District, but it certainly is convenient that she also happens to enter SD-12.  Denham’s district is at or near the top of nearly every Dem-target list for the near future, especially as the 2/3 rule collides with the year’s budget crisis.

Just a hunch, but I’m guessing that budget flexibility is going to become a bigger issue over the course of the year, what with that whole budget shortfall thing.  And healthcare funding.  And Indian Gaming compacts.  Might just be that ambition is finding a place in all this.