Judge: Newsom can’t be listed as Democrat on recall ballot

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) A judge has ruled California Gov. Gavin Newsom can't put his Democratic Party affiliation on the ballot voters see when they decide whether to remove him.

Newsom's campaign missed a deadline to submit his affiliation to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber for the Sept. 14 recall election.

Newsom's campaign said it was inadvertent and asked Weber, who was appointed by Newsom, to allow the affiliation to appear.  She said the issue needed to go to a judge and so Newsom filed a lawsuit. Sacramento County Superior Court Judge James Arguelles on Monday rejected Newsom's appeal, saying state law regarding the deadline is “unambiguous."

Newsom's Republican opponents criticized his lawsuit as an attempt to change rules everyone else must follow.