As Leslie noted the other day, Larry Elder was removed from the California Recall ballot on some flimsy paperwork excuse. Elder went to court and won.
Politico reports:
At issue were the tax filings Elder had submitted to California elections officials in his bid to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom. Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s office said the documents Elder shared were improperly redacted. Elder went to court to fight back, and his case landed in front of Sacramento Superior Court Judge Laurie Earl just hours before Weber was set to certify the final list of candidates.Elder brings the tentative total of recall candidates to 43.In addition to ruling that Weber must place Elder on recall ballots, Earl also rejected Weber’s conclusion that recall candidates are covered by the 2019 state law compelling gubernatorial candidates in a “direct primary election” to release tax returns.“I don’t find that Mr. Elder was required to file tax returns at all,” Earl said.
The Sacramento Bee has more on the pretext to remove Elder:
The dispute stems from a new law, signed in 2019, that requires gubernatorial candidates to release five years of tax returns. Both the judge and Elder’s attorneys pointed out various places in the statute that prevent it from applying to recall elections.Jay Russell, attorney for the secretary of state, said the goal of the office was to provide the same transparency to voters as in a normal election“The secretary is is seeking to hold the recall elections in a manner in a format that is, is as close to a regular election as possible,” Russell told the court.
As Rush used to say, they will always tell you who they fear. And they seem to fear Elder.
He’s stoked:
So what happens on September 14?
The ballot asks voters two questions: Should the governor be recalled? And if so, who should be the new governor? If the majority of voters say no to the first question, the second is moot. But if more than 50 percent vote yes, the candidate with the most votes becomes the next governor.
According to the California Secretary of State’s website, if Newsom is recalled, he cannot be the replacement candidate. That would seem to help someone like Elder who might gain momentum and name recognition.
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