When California voters decide Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political fate in the Sept. 14 recall election, they will see his name without his party affiliation. That’s because a judge denied the governor’s request to list him as a Democrat after his office missed a deadline to do so.
The governor’s aides called it an “inadvertent but good faith mistake.”
Newsom sued California Secretary of State Shirley Weber in late June, asking the court to require her to print his party preference on the recall ballots for the Sept. 14 election. Weber had declined to do so in June, saying the governor’s attorney failed to make the request as required by state law when filing Newsom’s official response to the recall in early 2020.
Superior Court Judge James P. Arguelles said in his ruling that Newsom’s assertion that the oversight was a good-faith error on the part of his attorney was not enough to overcome the clear language of California election law. The statute states that an elected official’s party preference “shall not appear” on the recall ballot unless that official makes the designation at the time they file their official response to the recall with the secretary of state. […]
Newsom’s attorney, Thomas Willis, took the blame for the mistake, saying that when he filed the paperwork, he was unaware that less than two months before, the law requiring officials who are subject to a recall to file their party preference had taken effect. If they do not, no party affiliation is listed on the ballot. That change was signed into law by Newsom in October 2019. (LA Times)
“No one is above the law, and this ruling makes clear, that includes Gavin Newsom,” said Eric Early, the lawyer representing recall supporters, including lead proponents Orrin Heatlie, Mike Netter and the California Patriot Coalition.