Party-Shift Bill for Killea OKd
Gov. Pete Wilson Monday signed a bill that allows Sen. Lucy Killea (D-San Diego) to quit the Democratic Party and re-register as an independent, a move she announced in August on the Senate floor that she would make.
Killea’s office immediately announced she will change her affiliation in San Diego today, since the new law only gives until Thursday for candidates hoping to run as independents in the 1992 elections to switch their voting designations.
Killea asked for the new law after she shocked her colleagues Aug. 19 by announcing she would leave the Democratic Party because partisan politics had created legislative deadlock. She criticized lawmakers for alienating constituents by worrying about partisan outcomes and their own political survival through redistricting.
Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) later criticized Killea for denouncing her colleagues, saying the veteran San Diego lawmaker had shown interest in redrawing the boundaries of her own San Diego city district months before she announced the switch.
He characterized her move as politically inspired by the fact that Republican voters in her district outnumber Democrats by nearly 50% to 37%.
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