Unfortunately for Respect Arizona ("RA"), the recall proponents, Superior Court Judge Michael Herrod does not appear ready to rule on their motion to dismiss the case and to sanction the plaintiffs. RA had requested an expedited hearing.
Nor does Herrod appear interested in ruling on Citizens To Protect Fair Election Results' ("CPFER's") - the Plaintiffs' - request for a preliminary injunction against the recall effort, and to prevent any signatures from being accepted by the County Elections Department before the May 30 deadline.
Instead, the judge has decided to simply find out "the current status of the case and for scheduling purposes." The conference will be telephonic and is blocked on the calendar for 30 minutes.
Despite the court's designation, it is likely that both sides will try to argue the urgency of their motions. However, it appears unlikely to matter much to either side 29 hours before the deadline to turn in the petitions.
Since shutting down the paid petition circulators that gathered the lion's share of the more than 200,000 valid signatures last announced by RA - for a 2nd time - the recall group has made little of a visible push with volunteers to collect the more than 90,000 signatures they said they still needed (in their May 17 e-mail).
Any boost that RA would receive from a favorable court hearing will come too late. On the other side, CPFER (and their friend, Arpaio) is not as concerned about the petition drive without the paid circulators. And, they have almost an equal chance to receive an injunction either before or after the filing deadline.
We welcome your comments about this post. Or, if you have something unrelated on your mind, please e-mail to info-at-arizonaspolitics-dot-com or call 602-799-7025. Thanks.
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