Recalls May Be Next Weapon in Battle for Assembly : Politics: Republicans are threatening to target two Democrats who narrowly won election. Democrats could plan retaliation.

The struggle for power in the California Assembly may soon turn into a battle of recall elections, with control of the Legislature’s lower house going to whichever party has the most members standing at the end.

Republicans, who have launched a recall of Assemblyman Paul Horcher of Diamond Bar, are now threatening to go after two first-term Democrats who narrowly won after distancing themselves during the campaign from Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.

Democrats may respond by trying to oust one or more Republicans, including Steve Kuykendall of Rancho Palos Verdes, who won his seat with the help of a massive, last-minute contribution from the Philip Morris tobacco company.

The Assembly convened for a few minutes Wednesday, just long enough to recess for another day, which may be the drill until members are scheduled to return to begin regular business after the new year.

With Republicans boycotting the sessions, the Assembly lacks a quorum and the house cannot conduct business and cannot even adjourn. The state Constitution says the Assembly may only recess “from day to day” until a majority of the members are present.

Republicans won 41 seats in the 80-member house in the Nov. 8 elections, but Horcher renounced his party affiliation Monday and voted for Brown. That left the Assembly deadlocked at 40-40 without a leader.

Republican Assemblyman Curt Pringle of Garden Grove said Tuesday that members of his party do not believe the deadlock can be broken soon and do not plan to return until Jan. 4.

In the meantime, Pringle said, Republicans will explore recall efforts which, if successful, would restore the majority the GOP thought it had won in the general election.

“I think anyone who voted for Willie Brown is a potential target,” said Pringle, who is a member of Republican Leader Jim Brulte’s inner circle.

The first target is Horcher, whose vote has angered Republican activists in his district. On Tuesday, several protesters tarred and feathered an effigy of the assemblyman near his West Covina district office.

On Wednesday, the recall procedure against Horcher was launched, with the Republican Central Committee for the 60th Assembly District mailing him the recall papers.

Once Horcher receives the petition, he has seven days to respond. At that point, the recall proponents must gather the signatures of 20% of district residents who voted in the last election. The recall election cannot be held sooner than two months after the signatures are certified by the secretary of state.

Also on the Republican hit list are Democrats Mike Machado of Stockton and Susan Davis of San Diego.

Republican Dean Andal, a former assemblyman elected Nov. 8 to the State Board of Equalization, said Machado repeatedly said during two campaigns for the Assembly that he was not committed to Brown, implying that he would not vote to retain the San Francisco Democrat as Speaker.

“He said it over and over again,” Andal said.

Machado could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Davis reportedly said during her campaign that she would be an independent thinker aligned as much with Republican Gov. Pete Wilson as with Democrat Brown. But she said Wednesday that she never said she would back someone besides Brown for Speaker.

“I told people I would be independent as a legislator and work with the community, that I wasn’t an automatic vote,” Davis said. “But if people asked me whether I thought I would support the Speaker I would have said that I would.”

Democratic Assemblyman Richard Katz of Sylmar said he did not believe that the Republican recall efforts would be successful.

“If the Republicans want to sit down and do business we can do it,” Katz said. “If they want to engage in partisan warfare in districts for two years, they’re going to find the public very upset and disenchanted about it.”

Katz said he had heard that some Long Beach residents were considering a recall of Kuykendall because of the $125,000 in contributions he received from tobacco giant Philip Morris. But he said Sacramento Democrats were not involved with that campaign.

Times staff writers Mark Gladstone, Jerry Gillam and Paul Jacobs in Sacramento and Rick Holguin in the San Gabriel Valley contributed to this story.