Ballotpedia's Mid-Year Recall Report (2022)
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Mid-year report |
152 recall efforts |
Leelanau County, Michigan San Francisco District Attorney San Francisco Unified School District, California Newberg School District, Oregon |
June 22, 2022 (updated September 17, 2024)
By Ballotpedia staff
In the first half of 2022, Ballotpedia tracked 152 recall efforts against 240 officials. These figures represent a small decline from 2021, when we tallied 165 recall efforts against 263 officials by midyear. In comparison, the highest number of recall efforts we have tracked by midyear was 189 in 2016. The lowest was 72 in 2019.
Since 2020, Ballotpedia has tracked recalls related to coronavirus and government responses to it. We have tallied 245 such efforts since 2020, including 27 efforts against 66 officials in the first half of 2022. Click here for the full list.
For the second year in a row, school board members drew more recall petitions than any other group. One-third of officials who faced recall campaigns in the first half of 2022 were school board members. However, this was a drop compared to June 2021 when 48% of officials facing a recall campaign were school board members. City council members—the officials who drew the most efforts from 2016 to 2020—accounted for 32% of officials targeted for recall in 2022.
For the first time since Ballotpedia started tracking this statistic in 2015, Michigan was the state with the most officials facing recall efforts in the first half of the year. Michigan saw 70 officials subject to a recall campaign, surpassing California, which had the most officials targeted for recall midway through the year from 2015 through 2021. So far this year, California had 64 officials facing a recall effort.
Notable recalls across the first half of 2022 included the following:
- Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) faced a recall effort in early 2022 that did not qualify for the ballot after organizers did not turn in signed petitions by the deadline. Recall supporters criticized Polis’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and alleged that he had not paid federal taxes from 2013 to 2015. This was the third recall attempt against Polis since he was elected in 2018.[1]
- Voters in Leelanau County, Michigan, recalled County Commissioner William Bunek (R) and elected Lois Bahle (D) as his replacement in an election on May 3, 2022. The election switched the board majority from Republican to Democratic. Organizers initiated the campaign after Bunek, along with three other board members, recommended zeroing out the Early Childhood Services millage passed by voters in 2019.[2][3]
- San Francisco voters recalled District Attorney Chesa Boudin (D) by a margin of 55% to 45% on June 7, 2022. Organizers said that Boudin's policies had contributed to increased crime rates. A group called San Franciscans for Public Safety, led by two Democrats, initiated the recall effort in 2021, after a previous recall effort, led by Republican mayoral candidate Richie Greenberg, was unsuccessful.[4][5][6][7]
- Voters also recalled Gabriela López, Alison Collins, and Faauuga Moliga from the San Francisco Board of Education on February 15. Organizers said that the board members had devoted too much attention to renaming schools and not enough attention to re-opening schools after they had been closed during the coronavirus pandemic. After the recall, San Francisco Mayor London Breed appointed three temporary board members to serve until the next board election in November 2022.[8][9]
- Voters in Oregon chose to retain Dave Brown and Brian Shannon to the Newberg school board in a January recall election. Organizers initiated the campaign against Shannon after he wrote a motion to remove Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ pride flags from district schools. Organizers initiated the campaign against Brown after he introduced a motion to fire Superintendent Joe Morelock in response to declining student enrollment.[10][11][12][13]
Statistics
Ballotpedia covers recall efforts across the country for all state and local elected offices.
From January 1 through June 22, 2022, Ballotpedia covered 152 recall efforts against 240 officials. Twenty officials were successfully removed from office via a recall election. Nine officials resigned after recall efforts were started against them, 16 were put on the ballot but defeated the recall to stay in office, and the recall efforts targeting 110 officials failed to make the ballot. Recall elections for another three officials have been scheduled but not held as of this report's publication, and 85 officials face recall efforts that remain underway but that have not made the ballot yet.
The chart below details the results of recall efforts that have been resolved, either by reaching the ballot, failing to reach the ballot, or due to a resignation.
The chart below compares how many officials were included in recall efforts as well as how many were removed from office in recall elections in 2022 through June 22 with the same counts from prior years. Based on data from the past five years, an average of 55% of each year's total recall efforts were initiated by the midpoint of the year. If the pace in prior years holds, we project that 2022 would see 436 officials included in recall efforts by the end of the year.
School board members drew more recall petitions than any other group in the first half of 2022. A total of 80 school board members faced recall campaigns, while city council members faced the second-most with 77. City council members drew the most recall petitions from 2016 to 2020. Recalls were also sought for 27 mayors and vice mayors. At state-level government, five state executives and one state legislator faced recall efforts. A breakdown of the various recall targets is displayed in the chart below:
Targets by state
Ballotpedia covered a total of 152 recall efforts against 240 officials in 24 states. Michigan led the way in officials targeted for recall with 70 through June 22, 2022. California closely followed with 64. From 2016 to 2021, California had the most officials targeted in five of the six years. To view the number of recall targets in a particular state, hover your mouse cursor over that state below:
When adjusted for state population using the U.S. Census Bureau's July 2021 population estimates, Michigan remains the recall leader with 0.70 recalls per 100,000 residents. It is followed by Alaska (0.68 recalls per 100,000 residents) and Nebraska (0.36 recalls per 100,000 residents). From 2017 to 2020, Idaho led the country in the number of recalls per 100,000 residents in three of the four years. In 2021, Alaska had the most recalls per 100,000 residents.
Ballotpedia has covered 27 coronavirus-related recall efforts against 66 officials as of June 22, 2022, accounting for 18% of recalls in the first half of 2022. This is a decrease from both 2020 and 2021. COVID-related recalls accounted for 37% of all recall efforts in both 2020 and 2021. In 2020, there were 87 recalls against 89 officials, and in 2021, there were 131 against 214 officials.
The chart below compares coronavirus-related recalls to recalls for all other reasons in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Notable recalls
Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado
An effort to recall Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) was initiated on February 24, 2022. Supporters of the recall had up to 60 days—or no later than April 25, 2022—to collect 631,266 signatures to require a recall election. According to the office of the secretary of state, no signatures were submitted by the deadline. Recall supporters requested an extension, but it was not approved.[1] This was the third official recall that had been submitted against the governor since he was elected in 2018. Neither of the previous two recalls made the ballot.
The recall petition was introduced by Lori Ann Cutunilli and Gregory Allan VanDell. The recall petition alleged that Polis betrayed his office, abandoned his oath, and was derelict in his duties. The petition accused the governor of paying personal and business associates $1.7 million to track citizen movements during the pandemic, for not paying federal taxes from 2013 to 2015, and for paying a former employee $155,000 for coronavirus assistance. The petition also criticized the governor for placing positive coronavirus patients in nursing homes and college dorms, mandating coronavirus vaccines for state employees, and giving millions to school districts to implement coronavirus testing and masking requirements.
Polis was elected as Colorado's governor in 2018 with 53.4% of the vote. He is running for re-election in 2022. Prior to the 2018 election, John Hickenlooper (D) served as governor from 2011 to 2019.
William Bunek, Leelanau County Commissioner
In Michigan, Leelanau County Commissioner William Bunek (R) was recalled on May 3, 2022. Lois Bahle (D) was elected as the replacement candidate with 55% of the vote, which switched the board majority from Republican to Democratic. Before the recall, Bunek held the seat for 14 years.[2]
Recall supporters criticized Bunek for statements he made in a county board meeting on September 14, 2021. In that meeting, Bunek and three other Republicans on the board recommended zeroing out the Early Childhood Services millage passed by voters in November 2019. According to the Traverse City Record Eagle, “Bunek at that time said the United States is a constitutional republic and when voters make a wrong decision, the county board is there to make sure that it doesn’t go on.”[3]
Bunek unsuccessfully appealed the factual nature of the recall petition in the 13th Circuit Court, stating that he felt his statements were misrepresented.[3] Bunek has said that he still stands by his recommendation to zero out the Early Childhood Services millage, saying that he only meant to eliminate the tax for one year. According to the Traverse City Record Eagle, "Getting the program up and running was delayed by the pandemic, resulting in unspent funds."[2]
Chesa Boudin, San Francisco District Attorney
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin was recalled from office on June 7, 2022. The recall was decided with 55% of votes being cast in favor of removing Boudin.
Recall organizers alleged Boudin's approach to crime led to increased crime rates. Boudin said his goal had been reforming the criminal justice system and that the recall was politically motivated. In his statement of defense, Boudin said reform was needed because "the old approaches did not make us safer; they ignored root causes of crime and perpetuated mass incarceration."[4][5]
A group called San Franciscans for Public Safety started the recall effort on April 28, 2021. According to The San Francisco Examiner, the effort was led by a pair of Democratic activists "seeking to prevent the recall effort against District Attorney Chesa Boudin from being framed as a conservative power grab."[6] Organizers had until October 25, 2021, to gather a minimum of 51,325 signatures in order to qualify the recall for the ballot.[14] Supporters submitted approximately 83,000 signatures.[15]
Campaign finance reports from late May showed more than a 2-to-1 advantage in fundraising by groups supporting the recall. About $6.4 million was raised in support of the recall at that time. Groups opposing the recall had raised about $2.9 million.
The San Franciscans for Public Safety's recall effort was one of two initiated against Boudin in 2021. The first was started by Richie Greenberg, who previously ran for mayor as a Republican. The effort failed because organizers did not succeed in collecting enough signatures by the deadline.[7]
Boudin was elected as district attorney in 2019. He previously served as deputy public defender in the San Francisco Public Defender's Office.[16] With Boudin removed from office, San Francisco Mayor London Breed will appoint a temporary replacement, who will serve until voters elect a permanent district attorney in November.[17]
San Francisco Unified School District, California
On February 15, 2022, a majority of voters cast ballots in favor of recalling San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education members Gabriela López, Alison Collins, and Faauuga Moliga.[18][19] Moliga left office on February 16, 2022, and López and Collins were removed from office on March 11, 2022.[20][21] That same day, San Francisco Mayor London Breed appointed the following temporary replacements for the recalled board members: Lainie Motamedi, Lisa Weissman-Ward, and Ann Hsu. The appointed members served until the winners of the board's next election were sworn in. The next election was scheduled for November 8, 2022.[22][9] Petitions to recall the board members were certified in October 2021.[23]
Recall supporters said they were frustrated that schools in the district remained closed for nearly a year in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. They also said they were upset that the board had spent time voting to rename 44 buildings in the district rather than focusing on opening schools.[8] “From day one, the campaign was a campaign to get politics out of education,” Siva Raj, a leader of the recall effort and a district parent, said. “What we saw consistently was a pattern where the school board leadership focused on a lot of political stunts and symbolic gestures like trying to rename schools, and doing that ultimately badly.”[24]
At a board meeting on April 6, 2021, members unanimously voted to rescind the approval of the renaming process. At the same meeting, they voted to return students to full-time in-person instruction at the start of the 2021-2022 school year.[25]
Mayor Breed announced her endorsement of the recall on November 9, 2021. “Sadly, our school board’s priorities have often been severely misplaced,” Breed said in a statement. “During such a difficult time, the decisions we make for our children will have long term impacts. Which is why it is so important to have leadership that will tackle these challenges head on. … Our kids must come first.”[26]
In reaction to the recall effort, Moliga said he stood behind his record. “The recall effort shows there is a group of parents that are frustrated with the school board,” Moliga said. “I am the first Pacific Islander ever elected in office in San Francisco, giving my marginalized community a voice in local government for the first time.”[27]
Collins said, “When I see certain people getting upset, I know I’m doing the right thing. If it’s people that have power and don’t want to share it, there’s people who want to make decisions without being inclusive, of course they are going to get upset.”[24]
López characterized the recall against her as sexist, ageist, and racist. “The people who are behind this don’t know us, they don’t know our work, they don’t know what we’ve been doing, they don’t know what we are dedicated to,” Lopez said. “They hear what’s out there and they recognize this is an opportunity to bring down someone who is me.”[24]
To get the recall on the ballot, recall supporters had 160 days to collect signatures from 10% of registered voters in the city. The total number of signatures needed was 51,325 per board member, and the deadline to submit them was September 7, 2021.[8][27][28]
All three board members named in the recall petitions were first elected to the board on November 6, 2018. They received the most votes in an at-large election, defeating 16 other candidates.[29] The other four members of the board were not eligible for recall at the same time as López, Collins, and Moliga as they had not served in their current terms for six months. They were elected or re-elected to the board on November 3, 2020.[8]
Newberg School District, Oregon
Recall elections against Dave Brown and Brian Shannon, Zone 6 and 7 representatives on the Newberg School District school board in Oregon, respectively, were held on January 18, 2022.[10] Both members retained their offices with 52% of the vote opposing the recall.[11]
The recall effort against Shannon started after the board voted 4-3 on August 10, 2021, to remove Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ pride flags in district schools. The ban also included political signs, clothing, and other items. Shannon wrote the motion for the ban and was joined in voting to approve it by Dave Brown, Trevor DeHart, and Renee Powell.[12][30][31] The board voted 4-3 on September 28, 2021, to approve a policy banning all political symbols and images from schools. The same four members voted to approve the policy. In the same meeting, the board also rescinded the previous policy that specifically mentioned Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ flags.[32]
The effort to recall Brown began after the board voted 4-3 to fire Superintendent Joe Morelock without cause. Brown initiated the motion and voted in favor of firing Morelock. Morelock had been under contract through June 30, 2024.[13] The petition against Brown said the decision to fire Morelock "will cost the district hundreds of thousands of dollars."[13] When asked about his decision to vote to fire Superintendent Joe Morelock, Brown cited the number of students who were leaving the school district and the associated loss in funds.[33]
The group supporting the recall of Shannon included "Newberg School District parents, students, alumni, and members of the greater Newberg and Dundee community," according to their website.[34] The recall petition included language criticizing Shannon for driving a "controversial motion that put the Newberg School Board in the national spotlight, ignored the advice of the superintendent of Newberg schools and, in doing so, exposed the district to costly lawsuits from the ACLU and others."[12]
During the discussion on the motion to ban political symbols in district schools on August 10, 2021, Shannon said, "The main goal of this is to get political symbols, and divisive symbols out of our schools so we can focus on the already difficult task of educating our students in the core subjects."[31] At the school board meeting on September 28, 2021, Shannon said, "This policy is so innocuous. It just says that teachers can’t display political symbols at work while they’re on school time. That should not be controversial."[32]
Both Brown and Shannon were elected to the seven-member board in 2019.[35]
See also
- Recall overview
- Political recall efforts
- Political recall efforts, 2022
- Laws governing recall
- Ballotpedia's 2021 Recall Analysis
- Ballotpedia's Mid-Year Recall Report (2021)
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Colorado Pols, "Recall Polis People Ask for More Time to Fail," April 25, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Record-Eagle.com, "Special election: Leelanau commissioner faces recall," March 2, 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Leelanau Enterprise, "Judge OK’s Bunek recall language," accessed March 14, 2022
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Recall Chesa Boudin, "PETITION FOR RECALL," accessed March 15, 2021
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 San Francisco Department of Elections, "Response from Elected Official," accessed June 4, 2021
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 San Francisco Examiner, "New Boudin recall effort seeks to reframe narrative," April 19, 2021
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 SFist, "Original Recall Chesa Boudin Effort Fails To Get Enough Signatures," August 11, 2021
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 San Francisco Chronicle, "San Francisco school board members are facing a recall effort. What's the chance it'll work?" February 24, 2021
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 San Francisco Office of the Mayor, "News Releases: Mayor London Breed Swears in Three New Members to the San Francisco School Board," March 11, 2022
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Yamhill County Clerk, "Current Year Elections," accessed December 22, 2021
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Oregonian, "Newberg school board members who led ban on Black Lives Matter symbols survive recall," January 27, 2022
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 The Newberg Graphic, "Recall effort launched against Shannon," September 16, 2021
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 KOIN 6, "‘The entire town’s heart sank’: Newberg School Board faces 2 recalls," November 16, 2021
- ↑ Ballotpedia staff, "Phone communication with the San Francisco Department of Elections," June 4, 2021
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "Recall of S.F. D.A. Chesa Boudin likely to head to voters, with many more signatures submitted than needed," October 24, 2021
- ↑ Post News Group, "Boudin Runs for District Attorney," July 14, 2019
- ↑ NBC, "SF District Attorney Chesa Boudin Officially Forced Into Recall Election Next June," November 9, 2021
- ↑ The New York Times, "In Landslide, San Francisco Forces Out 3 Board of Education Members," February 16, 2022
- ↑ San Francisco Examiner, "Voters give San Francisco school board members the boot," February 15, 2022
- ↑ CBS Local San Francisco, "UPDATE: Embattled San Francisco School Board Approves Contentious Teacher Layoff Plans," March 2, 2022
- ↑ San Francisco Examiner, "School Board Vice President Faauuga Moliga resigns in wake of recall," February 17, 2022
- ↑ The Washington Post, "The Trailer: San Francisco’s school board recalls are tearing Democrats apart," January 11, 2022
- ↑ San Francisco CBS Local, "San Francisco School Board Recall Petitions Certified; Collins, Lopez, Moliga Face Vote In February," October 18, 2021
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 San Francisco Examiner, "SF school board members break silence as recalls ramp up," August 20, 2021
- ↑ San Francisco Examiner, "School board votes to rescind renaming resolution," April 7, 2021
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "Mayor Breed backs recall of three San Francisco school board members: 'Our kids must come first,'" November 9, 2021
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 San Francisco Examiner, "School board recall effort begins gathering signatures," April 1, 2021
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "S.F. school board recall effort takes a step forward: 'We really want a boring school board again,'" April 1, 2021
- ↑ San Francisco Department of Elections, "November 6, 2018 Election Results - Summary," accessed March 2, 2021
- ↑ Newberg School District, "August 10, 2021 Regular Board Meeting," accessed September 30, 2021
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 Oregon Public Radio, "Despite calls to hear from students and staff, Newberg school board approves ban on Pride and Black Lives Matter flags," August 11, 2021
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 Oregon Public Radio, "Newberg school board officially approves policy banning political symbols," September 29, 2021
- ↑ KATU News, "'This is bigger than Newberg;' School Board Chair addresses controversy," January 5, 2022
- ↑ Recall Brian Shannon, "About Us," accessed September 30, 2021
- ↑ Newberg School District, "School Board," accessed September 30, 2021
