PHOENIX — A recall petition filed Tuesday against a member of Congress could end up being a test case for whether Arizonans have the power to dump federal lawmakers.
Tucsonan Thomas D. Young is seeking the ouster of two-term Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, citing her support of federal legislation requiring increased use of electricity generated from renewable sources and new carbon emission standards for coal-fired power plants.
Young complained those standards will raise the cost of materials by more than 30 percent.
Giffords, in a statement prepared by her press aide, said a majority of voters in her district sent her to Congress twice, and, “Although some might not always agree with her, she is committed to representing them and being as accessible and responsive as possible.”
But C.J. Karamargin also called the whole exercise meaningless because federal law precludes states and their voters from recalling and ejecting members of Congress. That can be done only by the full Congress.
People are also reading…
While that is true, there is also a 30-year-old provision in state law allowing for a recall, and Giffords signed a statement when she ran for reelection in 2008 saying she would voluntarily “resign immediately if not reelected on a recall vote.”
Still, Karamargin, noted the federal preemption against recall makes the issue legally moot.
