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Citizens in 18 states have the right to recall state elected officials. Texas is not one of them. Recall measures are placed on the ballot by petition. Texans, like citizens in most states, enjoy the citizen’s recall at the municipal level only.
Impeachment is a process carried out by the legislature. We quote from the Political Almanac: “Efforts to remove a governor begin in the Texas House of Representatives, which must cast a majority vote in favor of impeachment. Such a vote amounts to bringing formal charges against a governor. The Texas Constitution, however, does not provide any specific grounds for impeachment, leaving such judgments in the hands of the Legislature. ..This is similar to the national constitution; impeachment is based on the commission of "high crimes and misdemeanors," but after more than two hundred years there is still no consensus as to what this phrase means in practice.
Impeachment is followed by a trial in the Texas Senate. The House is charged with prosecuting the case, with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas presiding over the proceedings (i.e., acting as the judge in the case). Conviction requires a two-thirds vote of the senators present. If convicted, a governor is removed from office and disqualified from holding any other state office.”
James Ferguson (1915-1917) is the only Texas governor to be impeached and convicted by the Texas legislature. Though some history buffs will tell you this had to do with his attacks on the University of Texas, interestingly, one of the reasons for the impeachment had to do with accusations that Ferguson was giving highway contracts to his friends and taking kickbacks. It is also said that Texans (and Americans) have historically tolerated corruption unless it got too out of hand. Perhaps Ferguson’s attacks on UT, combined with his highway schemes, pushed the limits of tolerance in his time.
The impeachment process was established to be used in rare cases -- as a sort of last resort. Are Texans at the end of our “tolerance rope”? You decide -- and if you decide yes, read and do “What You Can Do” next.
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Stick it to Rick with your very own Impeach Perry bumperstickers!
Perry Ally Targets
State Rep. Mike Krusee (R-Round Rock), who chairs the Texas House Transportation Committee, and was Rick Perry's bag man for the Trans-Texas Corridor and freeway tolling scams, was our number one target for defeat in 2008. But...he wisely decided not to run again!
Now, we're looking at other Perry buddies to defeat in November 2008. Do you know someone who is running in a competitive race in November for Texas House or Senate? We don't care what they're party affiliation is, nor political ideology. We just want to know the answer to these three questions:
- Will they support the call for a Congressional investigation into Rick Perry's push for the Trans-Texas Corridor?
- Will they support Texans' right to statewide initiative and referendum? (If Texans, like citizens in 24 other states, had the right to petition for a statewide vote of the people, we could have voted the Corridor and freeway toll scams down, and we could have won the right to recall Rick Perry!)
- Will they support a call for impeachment proceedings against Gov. Rick Perry?
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