Foes of Senate President Russell Pearce submitted more than 18,300 signatures Monday to force what would be the first-ever recall of a state elected official.
Mesa Republican Mary Lou Boettcher said part of the reason for the push to oust Pearce is related to his active role in crafting laws aimed at illegal immigration, including punishing companies that hire them and giving police more power to detain and arrest them. But Boettcher said that is only part of the picture.
“I feel that the state Legislature is listening to Russell Pearce and not using their own ideas,’’ said Boettcher, who acknowledged she never voted for Pearce in prior elections.
“I feel there’s too many things happened to education and to the health care within this state,’’ she continued. “And, of course, (there are) some of the things in immigration that I don’t approve of.’’
But Randy Parraz, one of the organizers of the recall, said the immigration issue has in many ways been the driving force.
“He has a fanatical obsession with one issue that he has pursued at the expense of everything else that’s important to Arizonans,’’ said Parraz. “The legislation he has pursued has been ineffective, has cost our state tens of millions of dollars to implement and defend in court, and has run hundreds of millions of dollars of business out of our state.’’
Pearce said many of the recall organizers, like Parraz, do not live in his Mesa legislative district. In fact, Parraz ran for U.S. Senate last year as a Democrat. And Chad Snow, the chairman of the recall effort, while a Republican, is from Peoria.
Snow conceded the point. But he said that many of those who gathered the petitions are Mesa residents. And all the signatures are supposed to come from Pearce’s district.
Pearce said he believes many of the signatures will turn out to be from those who do not live in Mesa or are not registered to vote.
But the organizers appear to have a comfortable margin: The county recorder’s office must find just 7,756 of the signatures valid to force an election.
Less clear is how quickly that will occur.
The Secretary of State’s Office has 10 days to review the petitions and turn them over to the county. Then the county has 60 days to verify the signatures.
If both offices take the full allotted time, that brings it to Aug. 9. State elections director Amy Bjelland said the recall election could occur in November if Gov. Jan Brewer calls the election by Aug. 10.
But Brewer, a political ally of Pearce, legally has 15 days to act. And if she chooses to delay her decision, the next opportunity for the vote is in March 2012.
Gubernatorial press aide Matthew Benson said until the signatures are counted “it is premature to speculate on when the governor may order a recall election.’’
Pearce told Capitol Media Services he has not talked to the governor about the issue, even though a March vote would come in the middle of the legislative session.
Bjelland said there has never been a recall vote in Arizona since statehood.
Backers did get enough signatures in 1988 to force a recall of Gov. Evan Mecham. But he was impeached, convicted and thrown out of office by the Legislature.
First elected to the state House in 2000, Pearce moved to the Senate eight years later before becoming president last year.
In that time he has been at the forefront of legislation aimed at illegal immigration, even bucking members of his own party in 2004 by spearheading an initiative to deny certain benefits to those not in the country legally. More recently he crafted the 2007 law to punish companies that knowingly hire undocumented workers — a law just upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court — and was the moving force behind last year’s SB 1070 to expand the power of police to deal with those they suspect are illegal immigrants.
Pearce said he ultimately will win because the voters are on his side on issues including immigration and gun rights. And he lashed out at recall organizers.
“These are not folks that are not pro-America,’’ he said. “These are folks that are pro-lawbreakers over law-keepers, have no respect for the laws, have no respect for what Arizona’s tried to accomplish, no respect for America in terms of the fact that across America they support what Arizona’s done three to one.’’
Pearce acknowledged that the 18,315 signatures on the recall petitions is more than the number of votes he got in the last election. But he called that number meaningless.
“They had paid signature gatherers,’’ he said. “People signed just to get rid of them in many cases.’’
A recall could have a different outcome than a regular election where each party chooses its own nominee, with those people facing off in the general election. That process generally favors the candidate from the party with the edge in voter registration.
Here, if Pearce does not quit, he will face off against anyone of any party who can gather 621 qualified signatures on a nominating petition. The recall is a winner-take-all process, with the top vote getter serving out the balance of the term, which runs through the end of 2012.
That means a candidate who could pick up all the Democratic and independent votes could easily overwhelm Pearce even if he holds on to all of the Republicans, as they amount to less than 42 percent of registered voters in the district.
But a wide-open single race also means that multiple candidates campaigning to oust Pearce could split the vote and allow him to win with less than a majority.
Snow said Pearce no longer commands the authority he once did, pointing out that several members of his own party would not support some of the legislation this session aimed at illegal immigrants.
“I think you’re starting to see the sea change in the Republican Party where people are no longer afraid to stand up to Russell Pearce,’’ Snow said. “He’s been such a bully.’’
Snow said the recall group will not back any specific candidate.
Pearce will have financial help with the election.
A campaign committee that has formed already is taking online donations to fight the recall.
"We will not sit back and let out-of-state and out-of-district special interests attempt to use recall to harass and intimidate Arizona's constitutionally elected officials,'' said Matt Tolman, who is chairing the anti-recall committee in a prepared statement. An aide said Tolman is a resident of Pearce's legislative district.
az2008 posted at 12:47 am on Tue, May 31, 2011.
I'm not a big fan of Pearce. But, this seems like sour grapes. Everyone knew what Pearce was about when they elected him 4 months before the recall began. Nothing new and scandalous was revealed in that time.
This just sounds like "we want a do-over." It's as bad as the knuckleheads on the other side of the spectrum who scream "recall" when someone too "socialist" is elected. It doesn't seem like a healthy, mature way to treat elections.
Poorman posted at 6:33 am on Tue, May 31, 2011.
What a waste of time and money,and we will have to waste more money to re-elect him again. Which we will do. The only people who have to be afraid,are the illegals ,or the people who hire them.
NothingButTheTruth posted at 7:20 am on Tue, May 31, 2011.
Maybe they wont have enough signatures. lol
Dale Whiting posted at 7:41 am on Tue, May 31, 2011.
NothingButTheTruth,
May we assume both you and Lady Liberty have given up on those "huddled masses yearning to be free?"
AZBROKER posted at 8:44 am on Tue, May 31, 2011.
These people that continually try to change the results of an election are throwing sour grapes. Stop costing us more money to vent your childish anger tantrums. Get over it and wait until the next election to spout your discontent with politicians. GET ANOTHER LIFE!
RationalHuman posted at 9:42 am on Tue, May 31, 2011.
Poor Dale - it seems all he and the pro-illegal spin doctors can come up with is the same old tired, worn out, FALSE analogy of comparing LEGAL IMMIGRANTS who came to this country LEGALLY and ASSIMILATED into our culture with ILLEGAL invaders who have no such intentions.
Sad and pathetic.
samkat posted at 12:33 pm on Tue, May 31, 2011.
Right on Rational. :-)
NothingButTheTruth posted at 4:10 pm on Tue, May 31, 2011.
No duh duh duh dale, we will never give up. We want as many high skilled, educated people to come here as we can get. Preferable White Europeans, but not and absolute. We need them. On the other hand, your ilk seems intent on turning America over to a rabble of people unable to even grasp the simple principle of the rule of law. Why would any intelligent American want uneducated, low skilled, mongrels to run loose in their neighborhood? That which has made America into a great nation is slowly being replaced by something that created every country south of our border and the entire continent of Africa.
shrinkingviolet posted at 4:59 pm on Tue, May 31, 2011.
Sure, you could call it sour grapes ... but it's part of the political process Arizona's founders established.
AmericanPatriot posted at 6:43 pm on Tue, May 31, 2011.
Sour grapes or part of the process, it's the open border, pro illegal fringe that just can't stand it that we finally have a government that will do something about illegal immigration instead of just talking about it. Pearce is the driving force behind the popular movement to rid our state of this infestation, so naturally they have targeted him. It doesn't even matter what these people do as we have already won the war.
CooperG posted at 9:41 pm on Tue, May 31, 2011.
Most of the comments here are indicative of the caliber of the people who support Russell Pearce. Instead of exhibiting any humility and questioning his own actions, Pearce and his supporters make nonsensical, hyperbolic and hypocritical claims against the leaders of the recall, ignoring completely the law and Constitution (which he supposedly honors so much) requires the signatures to come from the voters of HIS DISTRICT.
What is it about L-E-A-G-A-L that Pearce doesn't understand?
As for his hypocrisy, never mind that the sponsors and primary funders of the Civil Rights Initiative the Pearce put on the ballot in 2010 were from California (California is not in Arizona). Never mind that leaders of his ethnic hate group BAN is organized in Iowa (Iowa isn't in Arizona either). Pearce plainly exhibits stunning hypocrisy by saying fellow Arizonans can't exercise their Constitutional rights to criticize and help people in his district recall him. It's their right. The very claim that these patriots are un-American because they're exercising their rights is further proof of the complete disdain Pearce has for the voters and the Constitution. It's as if he's saying you have rights so long as you agree with him and you have none if you don't.
Pearce deserves to be the first state legislator in American history to be recalled. He's wrong on darn near every issue, is as arrogant as his is uneducated, and everything he has touched turns into an unmitigated disaster. Whether it's the MVD or the economy or jobs or education and yes, immigration, there is nothing he hasn't failed at and nothing that he hasn't tried to snake-oil sell to the voters as a success.
These folks can live in denial all they want, but Pearce will be recalled. That's a badge of shame that will follow him for the rest of his political life and he has earned it.
concernedcitizen posted at 7:05 am on Wed, Jun 1, 2011.
People wake up. Just because someone champions a cause that is important (like controlling illegal immigration) doesn't make them immune to poor choices or excuse them for focusing on their pet projects while everyone is distracted with that one cause.
I think most people did not follow how many frivolous bills Pearce was championing this legislative session. A state firearm? Give me a break. How is this helping with the economy of Arizona? Tea-party license plates? This all sounds like personal agenda items.
I contacted Russell Pearce about my concerns about the economy. Never did I, as a constituent in his district, contact him about "supporting the tea party," or "gee, I think we need a state firearm NOW, in the middle of the biggest recession since the Great Depression," etc...
There are other lawmakers that can be voted in that will still support controlling illegal immigration. That is important, as it has sucked the economy of a lot of money that could go to help legal citizens. It wouldn't solve all of legal citizens' problems like Pearce and others would make you believe, but it would help to some measure. But we want lawmakers who can do that, as well as do things for the better of the district and state, not who will do as many pet projects as possible once they get a little power. There is a saying about those who get a little power...
I hate the pressure that Pearce and his loyal followers give, that you are "un-American" if you don't support what he is doing. I'm sorry, I'm about as American as they come. I don't support illegal immigration, so that is not why I would vote against him in a recall vote. I will vote against him because he has been working so hard on his special interests, rather than the interests of his constituents. Shame on him.
nikki1 posted at 7:39 am on Wed, Jun 1, 2011.
I'd like to know why if they got 18,000 signatures, they were at my door on Memorial day asking me to sign the petition. I told him he was the 4th person to come around, and for the 4th time I would NOT sign it! I wonder how many of those signatures are legal!!!!!
CancerousConservatism posted at 7:52 am on Wed, Jun 1, 2011.
[beam] This should be a message towards all Reputhuglikkkan hate and disparity policies/laws.
If they dont like it they can whistle dixie .
NothingButTheTruth posted at 9:00 am on Wed, Jun 1, 2011.
CooperG, you're so confused on so many counts It seems impossible how you were able to get them all into one comment, and concernedcitizen sounds like your alter ego
Get this. We don't care what you people do. The money you cost us in this recall effort is minimal as is your chances of success.
"But Randy Parraz, one of the organizers of the recall, said the immigration issue has in many ways been the driving force." Well at least one of you isn't a total hypocrite. Then he goes on to say Pearce has a fanatical obsession with one issue. I think Parraz needs to look in a mirror to see someone with a fanatical obsession with one issue. lol And this bozo isn't even in Pearce's district? I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Guatemala and El Salvador were funding this recall effort. Folks, this republican government actually had the courage to balance the budget. We got a lot done that needed done, yet all his detractors say immigration laws were all he did? No, it's immigration laws that are all Parraz sees.
By the way CooperG, Pearce said, “These are not folks that are not pro-America,’’. That is a double negative. When you remove the double negative, the line reads, These are folks that are pro-America. He is right when he asserts that you people are pro lawbreaker. You have no respect for the rule of law.
Accuracy posted at 2:52 pm on Wed, Jun 1, 2011.
Organizer Randy Parraz said more people signed the recall than voted for Pearce last year.
But are any of those who submitted signatures to recall Russell Pearce from the 18th district in Mesa??
NothingButTheTruth posted at 3:58 pm on Wed, Jun 1, 2011.
With almost 2 1/2 times the needed signatures needed there's a good chance they'll have the amount needed to force a recall election. It all depends on how the paid collectors went about their work. If these outside agitators, Parraz and Snow, find that after spending all their money on a recall effort they fail to get needed signatures, that will have me laughing for weeks.
We need a new law. Outsiders should not be allowed to become involved in a recall of a politician when they do not live in the politicians district. Wouldn't you love to know just who is funding this recall? Any recall effort should be initiated, run by, and paid for by no one else but people living within said politicians district. That way it can't be said that outside agitators like Snow and Parraz are butting their noses in someone else's affair. Either that or allow the entire state to vote on the recall. If it's Snow's or Parraz's business, then it's all of ourt busness.
NothingButTheTruth posted at 4:00 pm on Wed, Jun 1, 2011.
At a gut level don't you just know that Snow and Parraz are on La Ratza's payroll.
NothingButTheTruth posted at 4:10 pm on Wed, Jun 1, 2011.
I just thought of something. If we could get the law changed so that the whole state can vote on individual district recall elections, we could send in outside agitators to get enough votes to force a recall election of that no good racist traitor Congressman Grijalva. and then easily vote the vermin out of office.
concernedcitizen posted at 6:17 pm on Wed, Jun 1, 2011.
First of all, I am not someone's "alter ego."
Second of all, I pay more attention to what is going on at the house and senate then most people that comment on these forums.
Third of all, most people view Russell Pearce much like a famous athlete, a "hero" in their eyes. But like a lot of famous athletes these days, they have bad sides that come out in public, so much that such people tend to overlook; "It's ok because they are so talented." "It's ok because they donate so much to charity." Or, in this case, "It's ok because he champions illegal immigration, which I feel is the root of most of our issues in Arizona." When will you guys realize wrong is wrong?
I'm glad Mr. Pearce has championed this cause (because illegal is illegal), but unfortunately, like a lot of lawmakers after they are in for awhile and get some notoriety, they tend to do things for their own special interests. I didn't sign the petition (it never came around our neighborhood), but I would vote against Mr. Pearce because of his special interest bills he has done the last couple of years. Do a search in the Tribune and AZCentral for AZ senate bills, see what articles come up. I believe it was back in January they were reporting on all of the "special-interest" bills he was trying to push through FIRST, none of which had to do with the economy, etc. He pushed them through when people were not paying attention, just like all lawmakers who try to do dishonest things without anyone noticing.
His priorities on which bills to tackle first shows a lot about his character. I've found this in my own life as well, we all have to keep ourselves in check, especially when we are in public office.
CooperG posted at 6:23 pm on Wed, Jun 1, 2011.
Well, know-NothingButTheTruth that's your best shot? Please. I know you want to help Pearce, but nothing you've said helps show Pearce to be anything but exactly the type of person those recalling him have made him out to be--hateful, narrow-minded, self-centered and wrong.
NothingButTheTruth posted at 8:07 pm on Wed, Jun 1, 2011.
Looks like I hit a nerve CooperG. Best shot, worst shot, it was the truth. Pearce is hateful=sb1070, narrow-minded=sb1070, self-centered=sb1070, oh and lets not forget wrong=sb1070. Everything you and your buddies Snow and Parraz say sounds like sour grapes to me. Admit it, your an open border liberal that can't stand it that your side lost so you're trying to take it out on what you see as our sides most vocal proponent. Pearce is irrelevant to this argument really. Even if he lost the recall election, which is doubtful at best, YOU STILL LOST AND ALWAYS WILL LOSE. We own this state. Maybe when all the illegals are gone and the unemployment is reduced as a result and the economy rebounds you'll calm down and see the point of it all. Then again, you probably wont be happy until AZ is just another state of Mexico.
NothingButTheTruth posted at 8:42 pm on Wed, Jun 1, 2011.
concernedcitizen, when you read newspapers, do you even think about the papers political slant? You read a lot of news articles that seemed to suggest that congress could do nothing but pay homage to the great and powerful OZ, I mean Pearce. The truth usually has little to do with newspapers these days. The Tribune and Republican run all these articles constantly demonizing Pearce and the republican majority for a reason dude. And how can you say he pushed his special interest bills through when people were not paying attention, just like all lawmakers who try to do dishonest things without anyone noticing when the papers ran articles about it constantly? EVERYBODY SEEMS TO KNOW ALL ABOUT THESE LIES BECAUSE THEY KEEP RUNNING ARTICLES ABOUT THEM EVERY FREAKING DAY. We balanced the budget for the first time in a while yet did they give anyone credit for the long hard work that was done? No. Just more negatives constantly. Sure he pushed a few bills you and others saw as special interest, but not for the majority of Arizonans. Just because you hear about congressmen pushing bills that don't have anything to do with "the economy" doesn't mean they aren't hard at work trying to improve it. Making AZ a place where businesses from all over the country want to come is priority number one even though that wont ever be printed in the Republic or Tribune. Check this story in the Republic today. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/12/17/20101217biz-jobs1217.html Arizona's job growth continues, outpaces U.S. Unemployment rate drops to 9.4% amid seasonal hiring. You wont hear Brewer or Pearce get any praise for creating an environment that induces job growth though. It's all just a miracle. After the long recession, the state now has added jobs for the past four months. Arizona's unemployment rate fell in November to 9.4 percent from 9.5 percent in October. That puts its jobless rate at its lowest point since January. In contrast, the national unemployment rate rose from 9.6 percent to 9.8 percent. Gee wiz Batman, it must be something Obummer did. Now watch as the chamber of commerce does head flips trying to find legal citizens to replace all the illegal aliens with. And in spite of the lowly scum sucking racist Latino groups trying to boycott poor little AZ. California will wish they had our economy.
NothingButTheTruth posted at 8:51 pm on Wed, Jun 1, 2011.
Arizona Number Two in Job Growth.
Here's two myths that you probably believe if you read the local papers. The first myth is that Arizona's economic growth for the past decade has been a mirage. Sure our economy grew faster than the rest of the country in the first part of this century, but those were bubble jobs based on an inflated real estate market. Now that the bubble has burst--yet again--we get to see what our real economy is like, and the view isn't pretty.
The second myth is that Arizona sucks so bad that employers don't want to come here. If just read the papers, you would think that we are 48th in all the things that make life wonderful etc. However, it's hard to raise a family if you don't have a job, so here's a statistic that really counts.
The runners-up to Texas in private-sector growth were Arizona and Utah, which added 90,200 and 90,000 jobs respectively, during the decade from 2001 to 2011.
Notice the years? How many construction jobs to you think are in that statistic? Not a lot. Even factoring in the job losses that have resulted from Arizona being at the bottom of the construction cycle, Arizona's job creation is number 2 in the nation.
Which states had the biggest losses? The high-tax blue states. So the next time that someone from the Republic or the Morrison institute claims that we can grow the economy by raising taxes in order to increase school funding, ask them about California, Massachusetts and New York.
http://www.espressopundit.com/2011/05/arizona-number-two-in-job-growth.html
concernedcitizen posted at 8:31 am on Thu, Jun 2, 2011.
NothingButTheTruth-we could continue to go back and forth, obviously you love what Pearce has done, and I respect your opinion on that. I love some things he has done but feel he is taking the wrong turn in recent years.
Yes, I have read a lot of articles, including one that talked about how Arizona has cut taxes for business and special interests since 1993 I think. Yet how strong is our job market (even taking into consideration the bubble burst in recent years)? Why are we continuing to cut taxes for businesses (and in one bill now we are putting that tax cut on the backs of homeowners), yet not replacing that income with any plan at all, so that in the future our education, health care systems as well as our system to protect innocent children will continue to suffer? Why are we one of the highest-ranked states in prison spending and lowest in education spending? Shouldn't that be opposite? If you pay it forward with a quality education you'll have less people ending up in prison, because they feel like they are able to accomplish something in life because they accomplished a lot in learning when they were younger. To me it sounds like a plan for the rich to get richer and the poor poorer.
One other poor decision-lawmakers changed the contributions of teachers/districts to the Arizona State Retirement System from 50/50 to 53/47. The 3% that districts are not paying they are also not getting, it is staying in the state coffers. Why are we punishing teachers who already do not make that much by making them pay more for retirement? Wouldn't it make more sense to have the districts pay more rather than the teachers so they have to figure out how to lower their admin costs?
It's little things like these that have added up over time for me, and my feeling in my gut is Russell Pearce is not doing what is best for his district and for Arizona. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time to initiate SB 1070 and rose to stardom because of it. I'm glad SB 1070 passed, it was needed, but I think we all need to be more careful of following like sheep because of 1 or 2 actions that were good. Even Jesus says to be wise as serpents, yet harmless as doves.
NothingButTheTruth posted at 1:14 pm on Thu, Jun 2, 2011.
In 2007, Arizona spent $895 million on prisons. For every dollar spent on higher education, Arizona spent 77 cents on corrections. California spent $8.795 billion in 2007 on prisons. For every dollar spent on higher education, California spent 83 cents on corrections. We may rank low in education spending, but our taxes are a lot lower than California's and we are growing jobs while they are exporting them. Of the southern border states only New Mexico pays less than we do for prisons. CA and TX pay much higher costs for prisons. California pays much more money for education, but do you think they get their money's worth? Paying a lot of money for education doesn't necessarily get you better results. You place a great deal of the blame for what you think is wrong with this state at Russell Pearce's feet. Is that really fair?
devils66 posted at 7:42 pm on Fri, Jun 3, 2011.
Pearce will have no trouble winning yet again. It's a good thing they got all the signatures they did cause they will need them, because of the stupid signature collectors they had, especially at the Library. The people that were organizing this campaign weren't very carefull with the people they hired. I could tell by the questions I asked some of them working over there at the library. They were even taking signatures from people that weren't even registered voters. I can't wait to see how many signatures get thrown out.
NothingButTheTruth posted at 9:50 pm on Fri, Jun 3, 2011.
Yes there will be many signatures thrown out, and if they find that there aren't enough legitimate signatures you will hear the howling of fraud and chicanery from the usual clowns.
samkat posted at 2:12 pm on Sun, Jun 5, 2011.
Dale: If the huddled masses come here legally, they are welcome. Those who bypass the system to get ahead of the people patiently waiting has to stop.