Virginia: City Council kills effort in Portsmouth to create Malfeasance Standard to limit recalls

The attempt to change Portsmouth's recall law has been stopped by a new supermajority of the city council.

There was a push last year to change the Portsmouth's recall law, which would have created a malfeasance standard/judicial recall law, requiring specific statutorily delineated grounds (approved by a judge) for the recall to move forward. 

The previous effort was killed in the House of Delegates, with Delegate Tim Anderson (R), who supported a recall effort against Senate President Pro Temp Louise Lucas (D) last year, credited with stopping the proposed law.

At the time of the effort, there was a new recall effort against Portsmouth Vice Mayor De'Andre Barnes and Councilmember Mark Whitaker over a vote to fire the city manager and replace her with the former police chief.

Portsmouth is the site of the first (that I know of) two-time recall loser, Mayor James Holley (in 1987 and 2010) and a failed effort against Mayor Kenny Wright in 2016.