With their Democratic supermajority potentially in peril, California state legislators passed a law earlier this year that lengthened the timeline for the state to officially certify a recall election. Now their efforts may give Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, a better shot of surviving a GOP coup. Since Secretary of State Alex Padilla did not certify the voter signatures collected to recall Newman 180 days before the June 5, 2018 primary, Gov. Jerry Brown can opt to add the recall to the primary ballot instead of establishing a special election. The 180-day deadline expired last week. Voter turnout is typically higher for regularly scheduled elections than special elections, which may give Newman better odds at the ballot box.
The new timeline established by Senate Bill 117 – the Legislature’s second recall redux measure after the original got held up in court – gives the Department of Finance until today to perform and submit a cost analysis to Brown, Padilla and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
The joint budget committee then has 30 days, or until Jan. 10, to review and comment on the estimate. After the committee’s comment period expires, Padilla’s office will certify that the proponents have enough valid signatures to qualify the recall. Then Brown can set the date for the election.
Full Article: Jerry Brown can move Josh Newman recall to June | The Sacramento Bee.