Second attempt to recall two Salinas politicians moves forward.

Salinas City Councilmember José Luis Barajas and County Supervisor Luis Alejo received notices of a recall effort against them, for the second time in recent months. This is the second recall attempt Salinas resident Daniel Muñoz has filed with the City of Salinas and Monterey County Elections Department, respectively.

“In total, I ended up submitting 96 [signatures] for Barajas and 98 for Alejo,” Muñoz says. “So I met all requirements up to Elections Code.”

In his first attempt, Muñoz submitted a notice of intention to recall with only 30 signatures which did not meet the requirement for the first step of the recall process.

The 43-year-old, also known by his rapper name Cal Paradox, lives in East Salinas and is also running for mayor. He filed the notices of intent to recall on Monday, May 18.

Barajas, who is in his first term representing District 1 on the Salinas City Council, and Alejo, midway through his third term as a supervisor, have already submitted a defense statement explaining in 200 words or less why they should not be recalled.

In Alejo’s answer opposing the recall against him he states, ”this divisive group has initiated a baseless recall which does nothing but sow division. Even worse, it wastes hundreds of thousands of your hard-earned taxpayer dollars on another political election.” Alejo submitted his response on Saturday, May 23.

Baraja's response opposing the recall was available for viewing only and he states, “this political group is using Trump-like tactics to overturn the will of Salinas residents.”

Next, for the recall efforts to proceed, Muñoz must publish the notices in a general-circulation newspaper. He will then submit a draft of an official petition with the recall statement, and those petitions require a higher bar to advance to the ballot. Muñoz must gather at least 2,463 signatures of registered voters in Salinas’ District 1 against Barajas and 7,070 signatures in County District 1 against Alejo, and Muñoz has 90 days to collect these signatures to trigger a recall.

“Nothing's really going to throw out the recall, unless I don't turn [the draft] which I expect to turn in this week,” Muñoz says.

Muñoz initiated the recall against Barajas after the councilmember initiated the process of overturning Salinas' suite of renter protection ordinances. (That repeal by council is also subject to a recall, and will go to voters in the general election on Nov. 3, 2026.)

“Because of him repealing the four ordinances that were recently stated in 2024, that was my issue,” Muñoz says. In the case of Alejo, he claims, “Luis Alejo used political bullies in the past to intimidate people to not want to run against him or his allies. I think it's a pretty big deal when citizens start rising up and get recalls on the table.”