Gavin Newsom loses court fight to be listed as a Democrat on recall ballot

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom will not have his party affiliation next to his name when voters receive their recall ballots in a few weeks, a Sacramento Superior Court judge ruled on Monday.

Superior Court Judge James P. Arguelles said in his ruling that the secretary of state’s office does not have a responsibility to repair a mistake made by Newsom’s attorneys.

Arguelles further wrote that a 2019 state law regarding elections does not compel candidates to identify party affiliation.

“It is clear from both the text and the legislative history that SB 151 does not consider information about an elected officer’s party affiliation so vital voters that it must be included on the ballot,” Arguelles wrote.

The conflict stems from an error made in February 2020 by Newsom’s attorneys, who say they failed to mark the governor’s party affiliation in their response to the recall petition.

When Newsom approached Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber to correct the error last month, Weber’s office said the deadline had passed, and a change would require a court decision.

In response, Newsom’s attorneys sued Weber, the Democrat whom the governor appointed to the position last year.

Arguelles heard arguments from the parties on Friday, which included attorneys for recall candidate Caitlyn Jenner and lead recall proponents Orrin Heatlie and Mike Netter, who filed to intervene in the case out of concern that Weber would not mount a “robust” defense against Newsom.

Weber, in court filings, said the omission of Newsom’s party affiliation was an “unfortunate” mistake that could deprive voters of information they need. The election will be held Sept. 14, but all registered voters will begin receiving ballots by mail in mid-August.

“The secretary of state agrees that it would be unfortunate if an error by the govemor’s attomey had the effect of depriving voters of accurate information on the ballot regarding Gov. Newsom’s party preference,” Weber said in court documents. “If the governor’s choice had been submitted by the statutory deadline, the secretary of state would have had a ministerial duty to accept it, and the statute would require that his party preference appear on the ballot.”

Garry South, a longtime Democratic consultant who ran campaigns for Gov. Gray Davis, said it was a “big mistake” for Newsom’s camp not to file the paperwork correctly, but in the end, it’s unlikely to have much of an impact.

“If you’re a registered voter in California and you’re primed to vote in the recall and you don’t know Gavin Newsom is a Democrat, you’re living on another planet,” South said.

Nathan Click, an adviser to Newsom’s Stop the Republican Recall campaign, said the recall is a “Republican power grab.”

“Californians see this partisan recall for what it is.... and across the state, you see Democrats united behind Governor Newsom,” he said in a statement.

This story was originally published July 12, 2021 at 5:27 PM.