Three members of the Cal State Fullerton College Republicans have been named in a lawsuit backed by the California Democratic Party in retaliation for their work to recall State Senator Josh Newman, who was the pivotal vote in support of April’s $52 billion gas tax increase.
The Democrats’ lawsuit, which was filed in Sacramento Superior Court last Thursday, alleges that the College Republicans and other conservative activists “misled” voters in their successful signature gathering effort to recall Senator Newman. The suit names Amanda McGuire, Brooke Paz, and Ryan Hoskins (pictured below) as defendants in the suit, for volunteering their weekends to talk to constituents about the cost of Newman’s vote to the district’s taxpayers.
The recall effort gathered nearly 85,000 signatures in a matter of several weeks, due to constituents’ frustration and anger at Newman’s vote on the gas tax. The Democrat Party has alleged that recall organizers, which also included dozens of local conservatives of all ages, lied to voters about the true nature of the recall campaign by claiming that the recall would repeal the gas tax.
Brooke Paz, who serves as Public Relations Director for the College Republicans told Daily Wire, “This lawsuit is a baseless attack on the character of hardworking and passionate activists, as well as a shameful intrusion on the democratic processes that are my right as an American citizen.”
“As we just celebrated the 241st anniversary of our independence, my God-given rights are being threatened by the California Democrats simply because they disagree with me and my colleagues,” Paz continued. “Our elected representatives are supposed to govern by the people and for the people. The people do not want higher taxes, and as proven by the incredible amount of signatures we’ve gathered for this recall petition, the people do not want Newman.”
Once Democrats in the state legislature realized that the recall petition was moving forward at a record pace, they scrambled to develop a number of subversive methods that would stop the lawful recall by the voters. Democrats, who hold a two-thirds supermajority in both the Assembly and Senate, and hold all eight statewide elected offices, worked to change the rules on signature verification, tried to alter contribution limits, and fought for legislation that would push the election further back.
Organizers of the recall told Daily Wire that the Democrat Party is desperate for any way to stop the election by any means necessary, which has a high likelihood of forcing Newman out of office only months into his first term.
Amanda McGuire, who is Vice-President of the College Republicans, asserted that “the lawsuit is a shameful and frantic attempt to silence voters of the district. The intimidation tactics espoused by the California Democrats should no longer be tolerated. It’s gone too far when college students are being dragged into court for becoming involved with the issues faced by their local cities. I’m proud to be a part of the party that fights to fix our government on every level.”
“This lawsuit is the definition of frivolous, and more than that, an obstruction of the very processes that every Californian should hold dear,” Ryan Hoskins, Secretary of the College Republicans said in a written statement. “By naming myself and my fellow club members as defendants on this lawsuit, the California Democrats are attempting to scare us into backing down from this signature gathering effort. They will not succeed in breaking our spirit, and with the support of the California Republican Party, we will fight it in the court of law.”
Fred Whitaker, Chairman of the Republican Party of Orange County, where much of Newman’s district is located, echoed the College Republicans’ sentiment in a statement to Daily Wire.
“Democrats are desperate to hold on to absolute power – whether it is changing the rules ex post facto on signature verification, or contribution limits, or a lawsuit challenging the validity of signatures – they will stop at nothing to keep absolute power,” said Whitaker. “There is no principle left for them, it’s only power, and it doesn’t matter if we change the rules or ruin the finances of ordinary college students now having to defend their own signatures.”