Douglas recall campaign still far short of the signatures it needs

The Coalition to Recall Diane Douglas has less than a month to gather roughly another 300,000 signatures.

Max Goshert, chairman of the recall effort, said today he didn’t have an accurate count of the signatures gathered so far because petitions are “coming in by the boatloads,” but the number of petitions returned to the coalition is in the five figures.

If the group has in fact received at least 10,000 petitions, the smallest five-figure amount, and each petition contains 15 signatures, the group would have 150,000 signatures by now. The coalition has to gather 366,180 valid signatures by Dec. 30, meaning it will need to collect closer to 450,000 to have an adequate cushion.

Goshert said he has distributed 27,000 petitions, each containing room for 15 signatures, to 1,200 volunteers. If all of those petitions are returned, the group would have 405,000 signatures.

The effort began on Sept. 1, more than three months ago.

Consultants have estimated it would cost between $1 million and $2 million to get the job done professionally, but the campaign is relying on volunteers with no help from the state Democratic Party or education groups to raise money or mobilize people.

Goshert said the help has been coming from all over.

“I just had a guy we didn’t even know was a volunteer with us email me this morning, and he said he has over 500 signatures. Just him alone,” Goshert said.

In the formal statement of recall, the committee says that since Douglas took office in January she has “demonstrated that she lacks the ability and expertise to serve professionally and politically.” It claims she has spent more time trying to “increase her power” than dealing with education issues.

Douglas has been a lightening-rod since she took office, suing the State Board of Education and firing two of its management staff only to have Gov. Doug Ducey intervene. The board has also filed suit against Douglas.

There has been only one successful recall of a state official: Voters in Mesa in 2011 removed state Senate President Russell Pearce from office.

In 1988, however, sufficient signatures were gathered to force a recall of Gov. Evan Mecham. But before there was an election Mecham was removed from office after being impeached by the House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate.

Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services contributed to this report.