Davis Calls Recall a Bid to Hijack Government

As county registrars scrambled Wednesday to update their count of signatures on the petition for a gubernatorial recall election, Gov. Gray Davis accused his foes of illegally importing out-of-state workers to “hijack” California’s government.

The governor’s accusations echoed a lawsuit filed on behalf of the campaign committee that his political team has set up to fight the recall. But at the first court hearing in the case on Wednesday, Davis forces suffered a setback: Judge Carl J. West of Los Angeles County Superior Court rejected their request for an immediate start to the interrogation of petition circulators they have accused of breaking state election laws.

“I think this is being rushed,” West said. He also questioned the propriety of pursuing the matter in the form of a class-action lawsuit, as the Davis forces have done.

One of the lawsuit’s apparent goals is to delay the proposed election so that it would take place at the same time as the Democratic presidential primary in March. Many political strategists have said more supporters of the Democratic governor are apt to come to the polls then, rather than in a special fall election that could draw a proportionately heavier Republican turnout.

But the judge set the next court hearing in the case for Aug. 8; by then, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley could well have certified that the recall qualifies for a special fall election.

A Times survey of California’s 58 county election registrars on Wednesday found that recall supporters have submitted nearly 1.6 million petition signatures. To qualify the recall for the ballot, they need 897,158 valid voter signatures.

For weeks, the registrars have been verifying whether people who signed the petitions were indeed registered voters. For the most part, they have used a random sampling technique mandated by the state.

By Wednesday, the samplings had found that the petitions were roughly 85% valid. That suggests that the backers have enough signatures to reach the ballot, although the timing of the election hinges on when the valid signatures are reported to the secretary of state.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Davis-backed Taxpayers Against the Governor’s Recall committee accuses the petition circulators of widespread illegal conduct outside grocery stores and gathering spots in Southern California.

Davis, speaking with unusual passion, trumpeted the allegations in radio interviews during the Wednesday morning rush hour. He zeroed in on the charge that recall supporters hired petition circulators who had certified falsely that they were California residents registered to vote in the state.

“Hundreds of people came over the borders from other states, lived in motels and said they were residents,” Davis said in an interview on KGO-AM in San Francisco. “Residence is a matter of intent. Do you intend to live here? And just being in a hotel for six weeks, not getting a California driver’s license and leaving town after you got the signatures does not fulfill the requirements.”

Davis said the state Legislature had good reason to require petition circulators to be registered California voters. On KFWB-AM in Los Angeles, Davis said: “The Legislature does not want outside people hijacking our government. Californians can elect people in California. We don’t want outsiders hijacking the process.”

The governor also focused on an argument that his advisors expect to be a central theme of his campaign: that a special recall election is a waste of money at a time when California faces a $38-billion budget shortfall and needs the money for teachers and health care.

“I think when people hear that, they’re going to be hopping mad, and they’re going to send a message to the proponents of this recall: Stop busing in people from out of state and stop trying to hijack our government.”

Despite his detailed knowledge of the allegations in the lawsuit, Davis said the suit was “filed without my complicity” by an “independent group.”

“I don’t know any more about it than what I read in the paper,” Davis said of the suit.

The anti-recall committee is led by veteran Davis campaign operative Steve Smith, who is on a leave of absence as state labor secretary.

Committee staffers include Eric Bauman, who is on leave as director of the governor’s state office in Los Angeles, and his deputy chief of staff, Michael Bustamante, who is also on leave from his state job.

The governor’s remarks drew a scathing response from Dave Gilliard, director of the Rescue California group that has spearheaded the recall petition drive.

“Gray Davis is the dirtiest campaigner in California political history,” he said. “He can’t say anything good about himself or explain his dismal record, so he’s resorted to attacking the 1.7 million people who signed our petition and the 155,000 people who circulated it for us.”

The recall ballot would have two parts -- one would ask whether Davis should be removed from office, the other would ask who should replace him if he is.

So far, California Democrats have presented a united front based on the argument that the specter of a Republican or independent replacement would encourage the Democratic-leaning state to retain Davis.

In Washington, however, some California Democratic members of Congress have privately floated the idea of putting a Democrat -- perhaps Leon Panetta, former White House chief of staff under President Clinton -- on the California ballot in a recall election in case Davis’ abysmal poll ratings plummet further.

But Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento), a senior member of the delegation, said that he and his California Democratic colleagues remain solidly behind Davis.

There are “no cracks” in the delegation, he said, adding that a contingency Democratic candidate on the ballot “would weaken our support for Gray.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) issued a statement Wednesday saying that she and her Democratic colleagues in the House from California “stand united with Gov. Davis” in fighting the recall. The statement followed a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune that she had told other Democrats that Davis would lose. “In order to defeat the recall, it is essential that no other Democratic name be on the ballot,” she said.

Panetta said in a telephone interview that he opposes the recall, but declined to speculate on whether he might be persuaded to run as a Democratic alternative to Davis.

“I’m not seeking or running for the governorship at this point,” he said.

He added: “It’s premature to declare this governor as losing the recall. There’s just so many ifs out there that are involved.”

Times staff writers Allison T. Hoffman, Jeffrey Rabin and Olga Rodriguez contributed to this report.