Perata drops bid to recall GOP senator from Atwater

The Democratic leader of the state Senate said today he is dropping his campaign to recall Republican state Sen. Jeff Denham after GOP leaders warned that the effort was a stumbling block to bipartisan negotiations on the state’s budget problems.

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) held a Capitol news conference to say he would no longer promote the recall, although it will remain on the June 3 ballot and groups tied to Perata have spent more than $500,000 urging voters to toss Denham out of office.

The Atwater Republican angered Perata last year when he refused to vote for a state budget that he felt was not balanced. A political committee run by Perata’s top political advisor began hiring petition circulators, who collected enough signatures last year to put the recall measure on the ballot.

Perata said in a recent interview that he did not want a repeat this year of the turmoil that marked budget negotiations last year, when a spending plan was delayed more than two months.

He noted then that Democrats have a 12% lead in voter registration in Denham’s 12th District, which includes Salinas and Modesto.

Monterey County Supervisor Simon Salinas, a Democrat, is on the ballot to replace Denham if he is recalled.

 patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com