The self-serving little trial balloon of Cruz Bustamante, California's Lieutenant Governor, was shot down in flames.

To the Editor:

California's Lieutenant Governor, Cruz Bustamante's little trial balloon about first holding a recall election followed by a separate replacement election for the governorship was shot down in flames by all concerned. For one thing, it is logically absurd: If the Governor of California is recalled by a special election and there is no election at the same time to replace him, then the Lieutenant Governor (Bustamante) would automatically become Governor, according to the California Constitution. This would render a replacement election moot or pointless, since the Governorship would already have been filled. This scenario was too transparently self-serving for the public to stomach, even for the ambitious Mr. Bustamante. So he prudently set both the recall election and the replacement election for the same date, October 7, 2003.

Yours truly,

James K. Sayre

25 July 2003