At least 17 Recalls set for Election Day -- including Alameda District Attorney and Oakland Mayor

This Election Day will see at least 17 recalls throughout the country (and a noteworthy asterisk). There are also two recalls scheduled the week before in Oregon, so it is possible they will pushed off till Election Day. It could be that other recalls will pop up on our radar (this seems to happen, especially with Arkansas), so view this as a floor, not a ceiling.

Two points: 1) It's noteworthy that there are so few in our nation's recall leader, Michigan, though they did have 12 on Primary Day in May (plus two resignations). 2) Presidential Election Days have the highest turnout (though perhaps we're in for a drop from the post 26th Amendment high), but this doesn't help the official. In fact, recalls on Election or Primary Days seem to have a higher ouster rate. 

The most noteworthy ones are right out in the Bay Area, with the Oakland Mayor and Alameda County District Attorney, which I will deal with in a separate post, but all recalls are special in their own special way. So here's the links to the upcoming ones:

Arizona: 

Cottonwood Councilmember Lisa DuVerrnay

Page Councilmembers David Auge and Michael Farrow

Arkansas:

Wynne Mayor Jennifer Hobbs

California: 

Alameda District Attorney Pamela Price

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao

Avenal's Reff-Sunset School Board's Claudia Cazares,  Lilia Rizo, Lissette Padilla

Grover Beach Councilmember Daniel Rushing

Los Banos Councilmembers Brett Jones and Douglas Begonia

Montebello Councilmember Angie Jimenez

Michigan:

Onaway School Board member John Palmer

Missouri 

Carthage Councilmember Tiffany Cossey

Nebraska:

Brownville Councilmember Colleen Volkmer and Jennifer Hobbs

Additionally, Flint Michigan had a recall scheduled against Councilmember Quincy Murphy, but he died and while the vote will take place, it will be ignored (though there are lawsuits over that, but it seems like they won't be counted).

Colorado:

Loveland Councilmember Troy Krenning (though this seems to be pushed off by continual suits)

Norwood Mayor Candy Meehan is set for December 10

Missouri: Carthage Councilmember facing Election Day vote; Accused of stealing pro-recall signs

The recall election of Carthage Councilmember Tiffany Cossey is set for Election Day, November 5.

The recall is over a claim that she was creating a hostile work environment, which led the previous council to attempt to pass a censure motion against her. Cossey is also accused of stealing pro-recall signs. Here's an additional story on the fighting in Carthage Government.

Petitioners handed in 545 signatures and got 508 valids. They needed 489. Notably, a second wave pushed them over. 

Texas: Signatures handed in against San Benito officials

Signatures have been handed in against all five San Benito officials, Mayor Rick Guerra and City Commissioners Pedro Galvan, Thomas Goodman II, Deborah Morales and Joe Navarro. 

The complaint is about financial transparency and spending on a new city manager. 

Petitioners need 25% of registered voters at the last election, and 50% of signers had to have voted. 

Alaska: Palmer Mayor facing petitions

Palmer Mayor Steve Carrington is facing a recall effort over a $75K severance payment to a city manager who served for 53 days. The complaint is focused on Open Meeting Act violations.

Three Palmer City Councilmembers were kicked out in a recall in 2022. The lead petitioner against the three councilmembers is also leading the effort against Carrington. Carrington was elected in 2022, but served for a decade on the council. Petitioners need about 58 signatures (25% of turnout -- though perhaps it requires all signers to have voted) in 90 days to get on the ballot.

California: San Jose Councilmember threatened with recall

San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres is facing a recall effort over an investigation into sexual misconduct with a minor charges. The charges seem to be based on Torres' own writings.

Torres is in his first term.

California: Oakland and Alameda recall updates

There's no major changes with the recalls, but since they are the most prominent ones, here's some updates:

Former Oakland Mayor Libby Scharf backs a yes vote for Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. 

Thao's rally against the recall and Chinatown supporters opposing it.

Thao blames coal industry for the recall effort

Supporters and opponents of the Alameda D.A. Pamela Price recall discuss their position.

Daily Journal looks at the different groups in the recall.

Michigan: Flint Mayoral recall rejected because petitioner was non-resident

The eight different recall petitions against Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley were all rejected because the petitioner is not a Flint resident. Some of the claims were over the water issues and others over a golf course negotiation. There were previous attempts against Neeley that did not go anywhere. 

Flint has been the source of many recalls in recent years, and was going to have one on the ballot on Election Day in November, but the councilmember died. 

Texas: Denton City Council member facing petitions led by Mayor

Denton City Council member Brandon Chase McGee is facing petitions over a failure to approve Planning and Zoning Commission members. Mayor Gerard Hudspeth is leading the recall effort. 

The nominee, Erica Garland, lost to McGee in May. 

They need at least 2751 valids to get on the ballot.

Ohio: East Cleveland Mayor, who survived two recall votes, indicted along with recalled and removed Councilmember

East Cleveland Mayor Mayor Brandon King, who survived recall votes in both 2022 and 2023, was indicted on a host of corruption charges, along with East Cleveland Councilman Ernest Smith, who was removed in a 2022 recall vote. 

The recalls, which involved numerous twists and turns, were over a kitchen sink of complaints, including a budget deficit, indicted police, corruption and "tall grass." The indictment claims that King authorized city contracts and payments to his own and his family's business. He also was accused of giving a car and gas card to Smith.

King first stepped into the position in a recall of then-Mayor Gary Norton.

Louisiana: St. Tammany Parish Coroner recall effort fails

The recall effort against St. Tammany Parish Coroner Christopher Tape failed, with petitioners not handing in any signatures. They needed 35,057 by October 14. They claim they missed by 10,000 (but that doesn't mean much).

The recall was over sex abuse allegations that were dismissed in 2003 over a claim of a violation of a right to a speedy trial. Tape was fired by the previous coroner over claims of violating the confidentiality policy.

Taiwan: Keelung City Mayor recall survives recall vote

Keelung City Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (KMT) survived the recall vote with 44.8%-55.1% of voters casting ballots against a recall. Turnout was high, with 156,776 our of 310,797 coming out to vote. 

Kuo-liang is facing criticism over a scandal involving a commercial property at the harbor, and claims that he did this to benefit the family of his ex-girlfriend. 

The strategy is different than most Taiwan recalls. Taiwan currently has a "absentee veto" requirement (25% must turnout for the recall to count). Frequently, the elected officials supporters will simply not go out to vote, thereby depriving them of meeting the requirement. The KMT is looking to change the law to add a "queen of the hill" provision, which requires the pro-recall vote to top the amount of signatures received in the official's original election. From the way the article is written, it could be that such a change was made, but I haven't seen such a change.

Arizona: South Tucson Mayor, former Recall loser, launches recall against three councilmembers

Interesting fight here -- Petitions have been taken out against South Tucson City Council members Roxanna Valenzuela, Brian Flagg and Cesar Aguirre over claims that Valenzuela does not meet the residency requirement and the other two helped cover it up. 

The leader of the recall effort is South Tucson Mayor Paul Diaz, who also has claims that they bought a motel that seems to be used by the government to put up some people (perhaps coming out of rehab).

Diaz lost a recall vote in 2015 and then came back in 2018 with a recall against other councilmembers and regained the mayoralty.

California: Oakland Mayoral recall campaign heads into final stretch; Oakland NAACP backs recall effort

The recall effort against Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao is also heading into the homestretch, with a focus on the claim that the recall is "anti-democratic" (obviously, we object and it is instead "Raw Democracy")

The Oakland NAACP has come out backing the recall due to the firing of the police chief (for whatever it's worth, the Northern California NAACP came out in opposition to the Alameda DA recall).

Also of interest, Thao failed to fill out her statement against the recall effort, so that will not appear on the ballot. This has happened before in other jurisdictions, but obviously a bit strange.

California: Battle heats up in Alameda County District Attorney recall -- reports of big debt from pro-Recall forces

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price recall fight is now facing the last big push, though honestly, I've only seen the pro-Price "vote no" signs (and not an enormous amount, but some) and haven't received any mail either way, so it is unclear why neither side seems to be going all out. There are reports that the Pro-Recall forces are $700,000 in the hole. 

Congressman Eric Swalwell (D) has come out in favor of the recall and Price hit back. 

Washington: Three Eastsound Water Users Association members ousted; Four survive

Eastsound Water Users Association Directors Jim Cook, Ron Claus and Carol Ann Anderson were kicked out in a September 28 recall. Four directors, Teri Nigretto, James Nelson, Leith Templin and Michael Cleveland all survived the vote. The recall seems to be over claims of obstruction from viewing records as well as general mismanagement.