Free California’s Total Recalls – Bad Timing, Bad Politics
Last week, a group called Free California announced its intentions to begin recall efforts against five Democratic legislators who voted in favor of stricter gun controls. Widely reported, the groups leader, Jennifer Kerns*, noted that they must listen to the voters and would use the recent recalls of two Colorado legislators as their roadmap.
*Authors Note: I emailed Jennifer for her take on the effort and as of this writing have received no response.
According to Josh Richman’s article in the San Jose Mercury-News, Kerns and her group are targeting ‘swing districts’ in an effort to punish those members for their gun votes.
This strategy is either fatally flawed or a thinly-veiled attempt to push Assemblyman Tim Donnelly’s nascent gubernatorial campaign, for which Kerns also serves as spokesperson.
This is not an objection to holding politicians accountable for their votes while in office. This is not an objection to being upset with a legislator for voting a certain way on an issue – especially one deeply held as guns and the 2nd Amendment.
My objection is that these recall efforts are poorly timed and highly unlikely to… Read More