Merry Christmas to Assemblyman Anthony Adams

California Assemblyman Anthony Adams just received the biggest Christmas present of his life. The drive to recall him from office failed.

California requires a 2/3 vote for budgets approval. Eventhough the Democrats have large majorities in both houses of the California Legislature, they are three short of 2/3 in each house. Thus, they need Republican votes to pass a budget.

Six Republicans, three each from the Assembly and Senate, voted with the Democrats in February to raise taxes by $16 billion for 2 years. The income tax was raised as was the sales tax, while the car tax almost doubled.

Surly voters overwhelmingly rejected a 2 year extension of the tax increases, and elements of the Republican Party were outraged at the Governor and the “Sacramento Six” for supporting the tax increases.

Anthony Adams was elected to the Assembly in 2006. His District straddles Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. He had pledged in his campaigns not to raise taxes. Yet, he and the five others did.

Adams was singled out for special opprobrium, as he appeared the weakest politically of the six.

Former California Republican Chair Mike Schroeder launched a recall campaign against Adams. Schroeder had earlier successfully run two recall campaigns against Republicans who had strayed from the true path.

Success in the Anthony Adams recall would send a message to any other Republicans who might think of tax apostasy. They’ll be toast.

The afternoon talk radio hosts, John and Ken, jumped aboard the recall campaign. Rallies and fundraisers were held to dump Adams, 58,384 signatures were submitted to the Secretary of State in support of the recall. Only 35,825 signatures were needed to place the recall on the ballot.

Adams' fate looked dire. Anthony Adams is far from being a rocket scientist. So far he has failed the California bar Exam 4 times, so he had to realize his odds were slim.

However, less than half of the signatures qualified as valid. So eager were Republicans to recall Adams that they signed the recall petitions although they were not registered voters in his district. Only 24,579 signatures were estimated to be valid.

Mike Schroeder announced that they would drop the recall and concentrate on defeating him in June in the Republican primary for reelection.

Schroeder incidentally is from Orange County, and not San Bernardino County.
His reputation as an astute, power figure is rapidly shrinking, His favorite sheriff, Mike Carona of Orange County, is headed to jail, and his efforts three years ago to dump liberal Professor Erwin Chermerinsky as the founding Dean of the University of California Irvine School of Law failed miserably.

And so did the warning to Republicans against voting for tax increases!

Governor Schwarzenegger recently nominated one of the Sacramento Six, Senator Abel Maldonado, to be Lt. Governor. The Democrats in the Legislature must act soon on the nomination, which does not require a 2/3 vote.