Perata drops bid to recall GOP senator from Atwater
The Senate president pro tem heeds Republican warnings that efforts to unseat Jeff Denham could result in a repeat of last year's tortured budget deliberations.
SACRAMENTO — The Democratic leader of the state Senate said today he is dropping his campaign to recall Republican state Sen. Jeff Denham after GOP leaders warned that the effort was a stumbling block to bipartisan negotiations on the state's budget problems.
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) held a Capitol news conference to say he would no longer promote the recall, although it will remain on the June 3 ballot and groups tied to Perata have spent more than $500,000 urging voters to toss Denham out of office.
The Atwater Republican angered Perata last year when he refused to vote for a state budget that he felt was not balanced. A political committee run by Perata's top political advisor began hiring petition circulators, who collected enough signatures last year to put the recall measure on the ballot.
Perata said in a recent interview that he did not want a repeat this year of the turmoil that marked budget negotiations last year, when a spending plan was delayed more than two months.
He noted then that Democrats have a 12% lead in voter registration in Denham's 12th District, which includes Salinas and Modesto.
Monterey County Supervisor Simon Salinas, a Democrat, is on the ballot to replace Denham if he is recalled.
patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com
