Oregon's Governor facing possible recall

Has Oregon Governor Kate Brown pushed her liberal agenda too far? In a blue state like that, it’s tough to imagine, but a group of Republicans are launching a recall effort amid complaints of government overreach and new policies they claim are contrary to the best interests and desires of the voters. Does this really have a chance of succeeding? (Washington Times)

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The Oregon Republican Party launched Monday a recall campaign against Democratic Gov. Kate Brown after a contentious legislative session that saw her sic state troopers on runaway GOP legislators fighting her climate-change agenda.

The recall paperwork, signed Monday by Oregon GOP chair Bill Currier, accused her of ignoring or overturning the will of the voters on driver’s licenses for illegal aliens and tax increases, as well as denying citizens protection from “the domestic terrorist threat known as Antifa.”

“Governor Brown has subjected the people of Oregon to a long line of abuses of power while at the same time refusing to address their legitimate concerns,” said the recall statement.

As the Washington Times goes on to report, this is taking place at the same time that Democratic Gov. Jared Polis is also facing a recall effort in Colorado. Apparently, there’s something in the water out there.

As for Brown, she’s not embroiled in any sort of scandal or dubious fundraising allegations. (Unlike her predecessor who was forced to resign.) What’s she’s basically being accused of is working with the Democratic majority in the legislature to pass a bunch of laws. But there are no rules in the recall game. If enough people are unhappy with her performance she can be given the boot even absent any criminal allegations.

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The complaints against her will be familiar to regular readers. The Democrats passed a billion dollars in new taxes for an education initiative and Brown still intends to hobble them with a carbon cap and trade scheme, even if she has to implement it by executive order. She pushed through the bill to give drivers licences to illegal aliens and is accused of not acting to adequately protect citizens from domestic terrorists like Antifa.

In order to pull this off, the GOP has their work cut out for them. According to the rules covering recalls, once the initial request to begin recall proceedings is complete, they will need to gather petition signatures equaling 15% of the total votes cast for governor in each district. Given that the 2018 election attracted more than 1.7 million votes, they’ll probably be looking at a minimum of a quarter-million signatures and they’re only given 35 days to collect them.

Assuming they manage that, then the Governor can either resign within five days (unlikely) or face a recall election barely a month later. Brown won her last outing by a 50 to 44 margin and her liberal agenda was already in progress and well known. Some of her actions this term may have riled up the moderates in her state a bit, but that still sounds like a heavy lift to remove her in this fashion. But we should know soon enough. If the GOP gets the ball rolling, the rules make this a rather rapid process that could play out by the end of September.

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Jazz Shaw 7:20 PM | March 18, 2024
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