Petitioners claim they have 1,927,000 signatures
The Orange County move to blue proves ominous for recall proponents -- the Davis recall got 73% of the OC vote; now, polls show the recall losing in the former GOP stronghold 48-52%
Kern County has 48K signatures
School deal unlikely to help Newsom -- though it is only talking about petitioning. Will voters remember when September ends?
Chico School Board President Eileen Robinson and members Kathleen Kaiser, Tom Lando and Caitlin Dalby are facing recall petitions after voting in February to continue the distance learning programs in order to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Petitioners have handed in enough valid signatures for the recall of Kingman Mayor Jen Miles. They handed in 1512 valids, and needed 1384. The recall is over a vote to continue the mask covering requirement to combat the coronavirus pandemic until October 20, 2020.
No word on the recall efforts against Councilmembers David Wayt, James Scott Stehly, SueAnn Mello Keener and Ken Watkins, though petitioners had an extra week to hand those in, so it could be we are waiting (petitioners need 1438 signatures for the council members). Two other councilmembers who voted against the protective mask requirements are not facing recall efforts.
The City Council still has to schedule the date of the election.
I wrote this op-ed for Arkansas Money & Politics. The history is quite a bit more interesting than I realized. Arkansas adopted the recall and then had it thrown out on a weird technicality in 1912. The state rejected the recall (as a small part of a package increasing terms to four years) in 1932. And the Little Rock School Board recalls were probably the most famous ones of the Civil Rights Era.
Hagerman City Mayor Alan Jay is facing petitions over complaints about enforcement of the city codes and alleged misappropriation of funds. The article's not clear, but it sounds like they have signatures and the election will be held on March 9.
Idaho requires the vote in favor of the recall to top the number of votes Jay received when he won office -- so that is 162.
David City Mayor Alan Zavodny is facing a petitions over his support for a mask mandate. Zavodny is in his third term. The mandate, which ended in February, was only in effect for 90 days.
Petitioners need 275 signatures (35% of turnout) in 30 days.
The recall effort against Douglas County School Board members Susan Meek, Elizabeth Hanson, Christina Ciancio-Schor and David Ray has been suspended by the lead petitioner. The recall was over a vote to postpone a classroom return due to the coronavirus pandemic. That decision has since been changed to allow a classroom return.
One parent was putting up $100,000 for the recall effort. The petitioners needed about 15,000 signatures for each official.
Governing and the Guardian looks at who may be behind the funding of the recall effort
Could Kimberly Guilfoyle, Gavin Newsom's ex-wife (and Donald Trump Jr.'s current girlfriend), be looking to run against him in the recall? (Spoiler alert! No)
'Donald Trump Jr. sniped at ex-San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and possible recall candidate
A Reason article on the recall as a check on power
Here's a Daily Signal article looking at 4 things to know about recalling governors
The recall effort against Tucson Mayor Regina Romero (D) failed, with the clerk quickly invalidating 1500 signatures. Petitioners handed in about 26000. The needed about 24,700. The recall was over her moves to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Recall supporters previously complained about closing churches and restaurants as well as mask mandates to stop the spread of the virus. A former Republican Congressional candidate Joseph Morgan was one of the leaders of the recall effort.
Six Red Wing City Council members, Dean Hove, Andy Klitzke, Evan Brown, Becky Norton, Erin Buss and Laurel Stinson, are facing a recall effort following the firing of the Police Chief (the vote was 6-1).
Minnesota is a malfeasance standard state, so petitioners will need to show a statutorily specific reason for the recall. There has been only one recall that I've seen in Minnesota since 2011m and it is likely there hasn't been another one since the state-wide adoption of a recall law in 1996.
Proposition Zero, a nonpartisan group, is calling for direct democracy in Burlington, including the adoption of a recall provision.
The article notes that 20 cities and towns in Vermont allow for recalls, and that a previous administration also backed a recall law.
State Representative Mark Finchem (R) is facing a recall effort over his alleged support for the Capitol Hill riots on January 6th and the attempted overthrow of the presidential election. The effort seems to be facing questions after the Chair of the Casa Grande Democrats, Ralph Atchue stepped back from the effort to let professionals run it. Representative Athena Salman (D) has also introduced a resolution to expel Finchem.
Petitioners would need 24,774 signatures in 120 days.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon is facing a recall effort from victims' rights groups and others over his criminal justice reform plans, including freeing bail; ending cash bail and other efforts.
The San Francisco District Attorney is also facing a recall effort. Petitioners need about 580,000 signatures to get the recall on the ballot.
Monterey County Sheriff Steve Bernal is facing a recall effort over claims that he has been ineffective and has used the department for personal gain.
The recall effort appears to include the former Sheriff, who was accused by Bernal of mismanaging and misappropriating union money (which was rejected by the state DOJ). and a campaign consultant, Christian Schneider, who helped run Bernal's 2014 election, than ran the race to replace Bernal in 2018 (which failed). There's a lot more in the article.
Petitioners would need about 18000 signatures to get on the ballot.
Lake County Coroner Shannon Kent is facing a recall effort after his (and his wife's) arrest after leaving a body in funeral facility. The charge is tampering with a deceased human body. Kent is also facing charges for violating bail bond conditions from a 2019 arrest for perjury and misconduct for enlisting his wife as deputy coroner. The state suspended their funeral homes in October 2020 over the cremation of a stillborn baby. Petitioners need 690 signatures in 60 days.
Snohomish County Auditor Garth Fell rejected a petition to give recall proponents against Snohmish County Sheriff Adam Fortney 90 more days to gather signatures. Fell noted that he doesn't have the power and it is up to the Governor or courts. The Fortney recall was approved by the Washington State Supreme Court.
The recall was over his Facebook comments against the Governor's coronavirus pandemic restrictions, as well as hiring officers previously fired for misconduct. (there's also a recall effort over his handling of the jails during the pandemic). Fortney claimed that he "will not be enforcing an order preventing religious freedoms or constitutional rights." Petitioners had 180 days to gather 44,494 signatures.
The 6-3 Supreme Court vote accepted three of four charges, tossing out one that he failed to investigate the use of force by an officer. The three members who dissented upheld the recall effort over hiring officers for misconduct. They dissented over whether Fortney could face a recall over inciting people to ignore pandemic restrictions in his Facebook comments.
Plummer Mayor Bill Weems is facing a recall vote on March 9. The article is locked off, so we'll have to wait to find out what happened, but this state investigation may have something to do with it.
Petitions have been taken out against Ventura Supervisor Linda Parks over her vote to sue 10 businesses with repeated violations of pandemic restrictions. Three other Supervisors, Matt LaVere, Kelly Long and Carmen Ramirez, who all voted in favor of the suit are also being threatened with recalls. All three were recently elected, so they are still in the 90 day grace period.
Petitioners need 11,067 signatures. Parks is in her fifth term, and is term limited after 2022. A sepcial election is estimated to cost about $500,000.
Interesting development here, as the recall petitioners in the California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) recall are said to be soliciting signatures using direct mail. I'm not actually sure what that means. One critical part of the recall law is that the signatures must be witnessed by a circulator. Since this is part of an actual plan, I'm assuming that the recall petitioners and their lawyers have worked a way to do this without having the signatures tossed out in court.
This has been an issue in recalls elsewhere. The recall effort against the Governor of Alaska has also tried the mail-in route, to seemingly limited success. There was recent talk about a recall in New Jersey that would be signed online, though that seems based on an incorrect reading of the law.
As a comparison, the UK's new recall law requires petitioners to sign at one of 10 signing stations.
For Initiatives and Referendums, the National Conference of State Legislatures website claims that Oregon has found a way around witnessing for I&R, (but recalls require a direct witness, according to the Secretary of State's website). The NCSL also notes that "Florida law specifically permits the signing of petitions outside the presence of a circulator." Florida does not have a statewide recall law.
