Thread: AZ-Gordon foes turning in recall signatures

Gordon foes turning in recall signatures
34 commentsby Casey Newton - Aug. 27, 2008 05:26 PM
The Arizona Republic
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon could face a recall election in March if enough valid signatures are delivered Thursday to the City Clerk's Office.

City Clerk Mario Paniagua said that American Citizens United, the group attempting oust Gordon for what members call his weakness in fighting illegal immigration, has told the clerk's office to expect the signatures Thursday afternoon.

To force the election, the group needs to turn in 23,751 valid signatures from registered Phoenix voters, a figure that represents 10 percent of the total votes cast in the last mayoral election. The question is whether petition-gatherers gathered enough signatures to provide a sufficient cushion in the case that a large portion of the signatures is thrown out.
Several statewide initiatives, including a sales tax to fund transportation projects and a proposal to preserve state trust land, failed to make the ballot this year after tens of thousands of signatures were ruled invalid. Signatures can be invalidated if they do not come from a registered voter or are collected by someone convicted of a felony, among other reasons.

For reasons that are not yet understood, some initiatives this year had failure rates approaching 50 percent in Maricopa County, a figure practically unheard of in Arizona politics. Typically, about a third of signatures are found to be invalid.

The mayor has proven adept at getting challengers thrown off the ballot. During Gordon's reelection bid last year, he successfully got Jarrett B. Maupin II's name removed from the ballot by showing several of Maupin's petition circulators were convicted felons and thus ineligible to vote.

Of the 3,920 signatures Maupin submitted, only 1,409 were declared valid. To qualify, he needed 1,500.

Gordon declined to comment Wednesday on the recall effort.

American Citizens United, which launched its recall effort after Gordon began accusing Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Apraio of racial profiling, used volunteer circulators to gather signatures. Officials in the mayor's office said they were expecting the group to turn in about 40,000 signatures.

Phillip Quihuis, the recall's organizer, did not return calls seeking comment.

The clerk's office has until Nov. 14 to verify the signatures. If the group's petition is certified, the recall election will take place March 10.

Gordon's name will be placed on the ballot automatically. Anyone who wants to challenge Gordon in the recall will have to turn in 1,500 valid signatures by Dec. 10.

To date, no one has stepped forward to run against Gordon. Quihuis has said his group has not approached anyone to run but is confident someone will.

Anyone challenging Gordon will likely be at a strong fund-raising disadvantage. Through June 9, Gordon reported having $333,117 on hand. He has been raising additional funds all summer.



http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... l0828.html

Interesting but someone is obviously funding him very well.

Originally Posted by jean

Interesting but someone is obviously funding him very well.

I wonder who on earth that could be? I hope someone step's up and challenges that traitor and wins!!