Weather Fails to Dampen Horcher Recall Campaign

It was cold and cloudy in West Covina but the two recall proponents generally received a warm reception as they went door to door seeking signatures to oust Assemblyman Paul V. Horcher, Republican-turned-independent.

“You getting rid of Willie Brown?” one man asked rhetorically before announcing his support of the recall effort.

“We already signed it,” said another woman in the predominantly Republican neighborhood.

The weather has been mostly horrible since the petition drive to recall Horcher kicked off about two weeks ago. But that apparently has not dampened the spirits of those who would punish Horcher for cutting his ties to the Republican Party and voting to extend Brown’s reign as Assembly Speaker.

With Horcher, Brown has 40 votes, the same number as Republican leader Jim Brulte. Recall Horcher and, theoretically, Brulte becomes the first Republican Speaker in more than two decades.

“People really feel betrayed,” said Timothy J. Vrieling, a recall organizer who was circulating a petition. “It’s just so insulting that Horcher campaigned all these months as a Republican.”

Republicans in Horcher’s 60th District have turned their party headquarters in Walnut into Recall Central, with this sign posted in the window: “Recall Horcher. He betrayed us!”

West Covina resident Kathryn Howard, a veteran of numerous election wars, coordinates the volunteers--more than 1,000, she says--who are canvassing precincts for the 18,760 signatures needed by June to put the recall question before district voters.

Once the signatures are certified, Gov. Pete Wilson can set an election date. The 60th District includes Diamond Bar, La Mirada, Rowland Heights, Walnut and West Covina, and parts of Covina, City of Industry, La Habra Heights, Pomona, Valinda and Whittier.

Wilson lent a hand to the effort last week, mailing out petitions accompanied by a letter that urges voters to recall Horcher. The governor’s reelection committee paid for the mailer, which allows people to petition via mail.

Horcher has responded sharply to Wilson’s mailer, accusing the governor of meddling in the Assembly power struggle, of being “sucked in” by the “ego-driven power lust of Jim Brulte.”