 |
| Pearce. |
It's the first time anyone can remember a senate president being recalled in U.S. history.
Talking Points Memo reports,
State election officials say that the groups working to recall Arizona's state Senate President Russell Pearce (R), the man behind the state's controversial immigration law, have successfully collected enough signatures to force an election.
On Friday, Elections Director Amy Bjelland certified 10,365 signatures from the recall petititions. 7,756 were needed to force the election.
The election will happen on November 8th unless Pearce successfully challenges the recall in court. And though Pearce's attorney is reviewing the signatures, he said is will not likely mount a legal challenge. "I'm ready for an election," he said, the Arizona Daily Star reports.Huffington Post says Pearce could choose to resign in five days. (Not likely.)
"No one expected this or picked up on this political earthquake," said (Randy) Parraz, one of the main organizers behind the extraordinary grassroots campaign, which electrified a bipartisan effort in Pearce's Mesa district. Parraz credited a "dramatic shift" over the past six months due to Pearce's often extremist leadership in state senate.
"We had people pouring into the office," Parraz said, citing the role of Republicans, Democrats and Independents in the door-to-door canvassing initiative, "and they told us: Russell Pearce is too extreme for our district and state."
Beyond his self-proclaimed key role in the state's notorious SB 1070 law, Pearce oversaw a near circus-level of extremist and reckless legislation in the Arizona senate this past spring, including draconian cuts in education and health care. Mired in various scandals, Pearce infamously accused President Obama of "waging jihad" on America. And last month Fox News Phoenix explored his widely denounced connections to neo-Nazi hate groups. In a recent interview with FOX News, Pearce dismissed the recall effort as the work of "far left anarchists."Looks as if we're still in a "throw the bums out" mood. Wisconsin Republicans ought to be worried.
