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WSWS : News & Analysis : North America

John Christopher Burton, civil rights attorney and socialist, to run in California recall election

By Barry Grey
9 August 2003

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John Christopher Burton, a civil rights attorney and supporter of the Socialist Equality Party, has filed nominating petitions to run as an independent candidate in the California gubernatorial recall election, set for October 7.

Burton, 50, is a well-known civil rights attorney in the Los Angeles area. He has specialized in defending victims of police abuse and discrimination. Married and the father of two children, he has actively supported the policies of the SEP and contributed articles to the World Socialist Web Site.

The Los Angeles Times on Friday, August 8 listed Burton as one of 37 candidates who had, as of Thursday, met county requirements for the recall ballot.

California voters who go to the polls on October 7 will have the opportunity to vote “yes” or “no” on the recall of Governor Gray Davis, and at the same time vote for one of the candidates running to replace him, should the recall receive more than 50 percent of the votes cast. If the recall succeeds, whichever candidate receives the most votes will replace Davis as governor.

Burton is opposing the recall effort, which has been financed and organized by right-wing Republican forces in California. He is calling for a “no” vote on the question of recalling Davis, a Democrat who was reelected nine months ago.

While opposing the recall, however, Burton is giving no political support to the policies of Davis or the Democratic Party, who are collaborating with the Republicans to place the burden of the fiscal crisis in the state on the backs of the working people.

Burton is running in order to put forward a democratic and socialist alternative to both parties of big business. He is calling on Californians to vote for him in order to express, in the event of a successful recall of Davis, their support for the building of a genuinely independent political movement based on the working class.

Supporters of Burton’s campaign filed nominating petitions on Thursday, August 7 at the Los Angeles County election office to place Burton on the ballot. These petitions bore the names of 87 voters, registered as either independent or having no declared preference.

Additional petitions were filed in southern California with election officials in Orange and San Diego counties. In northern California, petitions are being filed in San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. The deadline for filing nominating petitions is Saturday, August 9.

To achieve ballot status, candidates are required to file the names of at least 65 registered voters, with the maximum set at 100.

Along with the nominating petitions, Burton filed a candidate’s statement that will be included in a California Voter Bulletin to be mailed to 10.8 million households of registered voters throughout the state. State election officials told the WSWS that the bulletins will be placed in the mail between September 7 and September 16. Beginning Monday, August 11, the candidate’s statements submitted by those participating in the recall election will be posted on the web site of the California secretary of state, at www.ss.ca.gov.