Davis Gets Support From Top Democrat

The chairman of the Democratic National Committee said Thursday that it is mobilizing against the recall of California Gov. Gray Davis, arguing -- much as it did in Florida in 2000 -- that Republicans are trying to steal an election.

In an indication that Democratic Party leaders now see a recall vote as a virtual certainty, DNC head Terry McAuliffe pledged the organization’s full resources to help protect Davis from being removed from office. In real terms, that means money and the party’s activist heft to get out the vote in Davis’ defense.

“We need to make sure that we are mobilized. It seems clear that there could be a vote coming up soon -- November, maybe March,” McAuliffe told reporters in downtown Los Angeles. He declined to offer specific financial promises.

McAuliffe also insisted that there would be no Democrat on the ballot when the question of whether to recall Davis is placed before voters. The recall would be a two-part ballot -- voters would be asked first whether to retain Davis, then who should replace him if the recall succeeds.

“If you are a California voter and you want to vote to recall Gray Davis, you are not going to have an option but a bunch of right-wing conservatives on the ballot,” he said. “That’s going to be your option.”

In Washington, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) also signaled Thursday the likelihood that Davis will face the first recall election against a governor in California history: “A number of people thought that we could still stop the collection of signatures. My point to my colleagues is: That is over. The signatures are there. So now we have to deal with defeating the recall.”

Pelosi too said that for Davis to defeat the recall, it is essential that no other Democratic candidate appear on the ballot.

Scott Taylor, gubernatorial campaign manager for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), the main financier of the recall movement, said McAuliffe’s presence proved that Democratic leaders were becoming desperate.

“Terry McAuliffe is one of the worst chairmen the Democratic National Committee has ever had,” Taylor said.

He added, referring to McAuliffe’s role as chairman of the party convention in Los Angeles, where Al Gore became the Democratic nominee in 2000: “I hope he does for Gray Davis what he did for Al Gore.”

Although Democrats appear to have conceded that the recall will qualify, it is far from certain when an election would take place. Registrars from the state’s 58 counties are poring over more than 1.6 million petition signatures; if 897,158 of them are found to be valid, the recall would be certified. If that happens before Sept. 4, under state law, the election could be in October or November; after Sept. 4 it would likely be consolidated with the March 4 presidential primary.

Appearing in front of a new red, white and blue anti-recall campaign sign, McAuliffe sounded the claims of local Democrats that the recall is “a partisan political ploy” directed by a small group of Republicans trying to overturn the results of November’s vote. He also echoed the party’s complaints after the contested presidential election in 2000.

“We’re not going to let the Republicans steal this election,” he vowed. “The National Democratic Party -- the leadership of our party all across America -- stands firmly behind Gov. Gray Davis.”

McAuliffe, the party’s chief fund-raiser, said Issa, a freshman congressman, is out of touch with California voters on an array of issues, including abortion, gun control and the environment.

While political leaders lay the groundwork for fighting the recall at the ballot box, attorneys allied with Davis today will make another attempt to convince the courts to delay or prevent the election.

Beverly Hills attorney Paul Kiesel said he will ask Los Angeles Superior Court judge Carl J. West to issue a temporary restraining order preventing county election officials from verifying the signatures on petitions circulated by out-of-state residents.

Lawyers for Taxpayers Against the Recall allege that out-of-state bounty hunters, including two convicted felons, were bused into California to gather signatures on recall petitions. State law says that recall petitions must be circulated by registered voters, who by definition must be California residents.

In a setback for anti-recall forces, West on Wednesday set an Aug. 8 hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the count of signatures on petitions circulated by out-of-state residents.

Secretary of State Kevin Shelley told a group of Times editors and reporters in Los Angeles that his office is investigating allegations that some of the petition circulators were not California residents.

“My interpretation is that the petition circulators must be California residents because that’s what the law says,” he said.

Shelley said his office stands behind its advice directing county election officials to count the signatures of registered voters on the recall petition even if the petition may have been circulated improperly.

“It has been the long established practice of the office, and we have not changed it ... that the benefit is always given to the voter,” he said. “If the voter is determined to be who he or she says they are and they are determined to be a registered voter, then that signature would be counted.”

The governor, meanwhile, said he would welcome a hearing on the dispute.

“It’s clear there was a lot of funny business here,” Davis said while visiting a children’s health clinic in San Francisco’s Chinatown. “Obviously we’d prefer that that suit be heard sooner rather than later.”

Times staff writer Michael Finnegan contributed to this report.