The judge who set off a national furor by giving former Stanford athlete Brock Turner a light sentence for sexual assault will not face a possible recall until next spring, seven months later than his critics originally planned, this newspaper has learned.

Proponents of recalling Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky changed their mind about trying this November and decided to aim for the June 2018 primary election instead, primarily to save Santa Clara County taxpayers money. Postponing the election also would give them more time to collect 58,634 voter signatures needed to qualify a countywide recall for the ballot.

County officials are still conducting research but say it would cost about $576,000 to put the recall on the June 5, 2018, ballot, far less than the $6.8 million cost of holding a special countywide election in November, county officials said.

The cost would drop because the June election will be held regardless of whether the recall qualifies, with three countywide races already scheduled for that June, for district attorney, sheriff and assessor.

Once recall supporters learned of the costs, “We immediately decided to move our focus to the June race, because we have no desire to cost taxpayers more money,” said Michele Dauber, the Stanford law professor who is organizing the recall.

Dauber, who has raised more than $350,000 for the recall, noted that county residents voted heavily against Donald Trump, and said many will be eager by the June primary to express their “outrage.”

“I’m more confident than ever that the recall will pass,” said Dauber, who alleges Persky has a record of bias against victims of physical abuse and sexual violence. “This is a very, very difficult time for women and for people who care about sexual violence, with Trump as president.”

A spokesman for Santa Clara County Superior Court has said Persky will not comment on any recall developments. But recall opponents, including deputy public defender Panteha Saban, hope the delay weakens the furor.

Turner was convicted in June of sexually assaulting an intoxicated, unconscious young woman in 2015 outside a campus fraternity party, after two cyclists caught him in the act. District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s office had asked Persky to sentence Turner to six years in state prison. But Persky, who followed a probation department recommendation in handing down Turner’s sentence, opted for jail, plus three years of probation and the mandatory lifetime sex offender registration. Turner served three months in jail and has moved back to his hometown in Ohio.

The sentence ignited a national outcry, prompted new state laws in California and launched the recall movement. A new state law, for example, now forbids judges from granting probation instead of a state prison sentence for the sexual assault of anyone who is intoxicated or unconscious.

“I frankly hope the public ends up realizing how ludicrous this recall is,” said Saban, who supports the judge. “We can’t recall every judge who decides to rule in a way we don’t agree with, and Persky is a fair judge.”

Delaying the possible recall creates more uncertainty about the outcome, but doesn’t doom the movement, said retired San Jose State political science professor Larry Gerston.

“The longer the time between the event and the election, the hazier the whole thing becomes to voters,” he said. “It behooves supporters that they did it quickly, though, when they learned of the cost.”

If the recall measure qualifies and the judge loses, voters may also get a chance on the same ballot to immediately pick his replacement, just as they did when they ousted Gov. Gray Davis in 2003 and chose Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace him out of 134 other candidates. Whoever is elected would serve out the rest of Persky’s six-year term, which ends in 2022.

Any lawyer in California may run for judge; there is no requirement in judicial races that candidates live in the county.

However, County Counsel James R. Williams said his office is still reviewing whether the law requires Gov. Jerry Brown to appoint a successor instead. Recalling Superior Court judges in California is extremely rare; only two have been successful, in 1913 and 1932.

In the meantime, at least one candidate who is weighing whether to run for Persky’s seat has surfaced: assistant district attorney Cindy Hendrickson, who is one of the executives in District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s administration.

Hendrickson said she supports the recall. Rosen, who has been critical of Persky’s sentence, does not.

“I am strongly considering a run,” said Hendrickson, 51, who has been a prosecutor for 22 years. “It’s very likely he will be recalled, and if he is, someone qualified needs to be on the ballot.”

The delay of the possible recall means supporters will start collecting signatures this summer instead of in April.