Taxpayers Group Gives Alpert Notice It Will Try to Recall Her

A self-described local taxpayers group Monday served Assemblywoman Deirdre Alpert (D-Del Mar) with notice that it intends to circulate a petition calling for her recall.

Alpert said that Pete Kanelos, leader of the newly formed group called Responsible Voters for Lower Taxes, or REVOLT, served her with the notice Monday afternoon in her San Diego-area office.

Alpert becomes the second lawmaker targeted for a recall by the group, ostensibly for supporting more than $7 billion in new taxes to balance the current state budget. The first was Assemblywoman Tricia Hunter (R-Bonita), who was served with notice last week.

Hunter has accused the group of being a front for anti-abortion activists who want to remove her from office for her pro-abortion views. Alpert, also pro-abortion, said Monday that the group has decided to come after her to “disguise what their real motives are” in their quest to unseat Hunter.

Once the recall effort clears the secretary of state’s office, REVOLT will have 160 days to gather enough signatures to put the Alpert recall on the ballot. If successful, the vote would probably be held in the middle of next year’s political season, during when Alpert is expected to face an uphill battle to keep her position in a heavily Republican coastal district anyway.

Alpert said the timing of the proposed recall cast doubt on the group’s stated purpose. She said holding a recall in the middle of a regular election cycle would cost $250,000 in her district and be a “giant waste of taxpayers’ money.

“They ought to put up a candidate next year to challenge me. That’s something I would respect,” Alpert said.

Kanelos could not be reached for comment Monday.