ENCINITAS — Despite winning her seat by more than 16 points in last year’s election, County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer is facing a recall initiated by local political action committee Undivided San Diego.
The Escondido Times-Advocate first reported news of the recall filing.
Lawson-Remer represents District 3, which includes the coastal North County cities of Encinitas, Del Mar and Solana Beach, San Diego’s Miramar neighborhood and extends northeast to Escondido.
The recall effort will need over 40,000 signatures by May 12 to force a recall election for the first-term supervisor’s seat.
In a statement provided to The Coast News, Lawson-Remer said the organizers of the recall effort are political extremists.
“Unfortunately, anti-vaccine radicals are now trying to hijack our local democracy by pushing a dangerous recall to overturn the 2020 election and impose their extreme views on all of us. A recall would cost San Diego County taxpayers $2 million dollars on an unnecessary election barely a year after District 3 voters elected me to the Board of Supervisors,” Lawson-Remer said in the statement.
The recall was originally filed in September and one of the names on the original filing was Escondido business owner David Chiddick, who participated in rallies in Washington D.C. on the day of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Mike Johnson, president and secretary of Undivided San Diego, told The Coast News this week it is unfair to characterize supporters of the recall as extremist or radical.
“It just seems like she came in very divisive,” Johnson said. “When she got into office, she made it clear right away that she wasn’t going to be accountable to the people. She never opened an office in the district, which she was more than capable of doing.”
Johnson and others started Undivided in November. According to filings with the Registrar of Voters, the group’s stated goal is to “educate and support the people of San Diego County to become more politically active in local issues regardless of party. Focus on liberty and nondiscrimination.”
If you live in District 3, stop by Koffie in Escondido TODAY to sign the Notice of Intention to #RecallRemer. Twenty (20) signatures are required, but the more, the better.
☕️LET’S DO THIS. pic.twitter.com/2Uj1TGgw54— rooted.wings (@BrittRooted) September 4, 2021
Lawson-Remer easily won her election to the Board of Supervisors after defeating incumbent Kristin Gaspar by a significant margin of victory in a high turnout election, a result that gives the supervisor confidence her recall proponents will not reach the number of signatures required to force a special election.
“I am remaining focused on delivering services to my constituents to protect our quality of life, help families make a better living, support struggling renters and small businesses, and get more than two million residents vaccinated. I trust that reasonable San Diegans will unite to say enough is enough with this wasteful recall,” Lawson-Remer said in a statement.
On the Undivided San Diego website dedicated to the recall, the group lists 10 reasons it believes the supervisor should be recalled, ranging from her perceived behavior during board meetings to her apparent unwillingness to meet with or respond to some constituents’ concerns.
Johnson said he has attempted to speak with the supervisor but has never received a response from her office. Despite the voters’ support for Lawson-Remer one year ago, Johnson appears confident his group can gather enough support for the recall.
“We’re giving people an opportunity and if enough people think that she deserves to be recalled then it goes to a vote,” Johnson said. “Almost everyone I’ve talked to, regardless of party affiliation, has said she doesn’t really seem like she wants to be there. I think it’s worth putting it to the voters.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous photo of Supervisor Lawson-Remer that had used a filter has been replaced with the original version of the photo.
