Allen Recall Election Is Set for Nov. 28

Gov. Pete Wilson on Friday set Nov. 28 as the date for the special election to decide the recall of Doris Allen, the 67th District’s assemblywoman who resigned from her post as the Speaker of the Assembly on Thursday.

The Republican from Cypress was targeted for recall after she joined with 39 Democrats on June 5 to elect herself Speaker. She was immediately labeled a traitor by her Republican colleagues.

The more than 25,606 signatures required to call a recall election were validated earlier this week by the Orange County Registrar of Voters. The Secretary of State’s office informed Wilson on Thursday that he must schedule a special election because a sufficient number of the voters in the 67th District had signed the petition.

Allen relinquished the speakership Thursday with bitterness by saying: “I am very happy to step out of Dante’s ‘Inferno’ frankly.” Her tenure was the shortest since 1899.

Freshman Assemblyman Brian Setencich of Fresno became California’s 60th Speaker with a bare minimum 41 votes--all the 39 Democrats and two of the Republicans, his own and Allen’s. Setencich, 33, is the youngest lawmaker ever to serve as Speaker.

The special election in November will determine whether Allen should be recalled and if so, to elect a successor for the north coastal district in Orange County.