Local News in Brief : * State GOP May Try to Get 2 Recalled
The State Republican Party announced Friday that it has set aside $110,000 to determine the feasibility of trying to recall two freshmen Assemblymen, Willard H. Murray (D-Paramount) and Ted Lempert (D-San Mateo).
“These men are the sediment of the political process. The people of California deserve better,” GOP Chairman Frank Visco said in a statement.
Murray, who last November unseated Assemblyman Paul E. Zeltner (R-Lakewood), has been the target of mounting criticism for sending out allegedly unauthorized endorsement letters, including one from the National Rifle Assn. The gun lobby has called on Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner to investigate the endorsement letter, which the NRA says was altered and mailed without the group’s authorization.
Among the GOP’s complaints, Visco cited questions about the endorsements and Murray’s truthfulness. He noted that during the campaign, Murray admitted that he had failed to graduate from UCLA, despite claims in his campaign literature that he had received a degree in mathematics.
Murray was unavailable for comment.
The last successful recall of a state legislator was in 1914, according to the secretary of state’s office.
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