Ballotpedia's 2022 Recall Analysis
 |
Year-end report |
269 recall efforts |
Los Angeles City Council Colorado State Senate Salem-Keizer Public Schools, Oregon |
December 21, 2022 (updated September 17, 2024)
By Ballotpedia staff
In 2022, Ballotpedia tracked 269 recall efforts against 453 officials. These figures represent the second-highest number of recall efforts since Ballotpedia began tracking this statistic in 2012. Only 2021—with 357 recall efforts against 545 officials—had more recall activity.
Michigan was the state with the most officials facing recall efforts for the second time since Ballotpedia began tracking this figure. Michigan saw 136 officials subject to a recall campaign this year, surpassing California, which had 74 officials subject to recall. From 2016 to 2021, California had the most officials subject to recall in five of the six years.
City council members drew more recall petitions than any other type of officeholder in 2022, with 177 city councilors and town board members facing recall campaigns. City council members were the type of officeholder most likely to face a recall from 2016 to 2020. In 2021, school board members took the top spot, after 237 school board members faced recall campaigns.
Since 2020, Ballotpedia has tracked recalls related to COVID-19 and government responses to the pandemic. Ballotpedia identified 35 such campaigns against 94 officials in 2022, which was about 13% of all recall efforts. This represents a decline from 2020 and 2021, when 37% of the recall efforts Ballotpedia tracked were related to COVID-19.
Notable recalls across 2022 included the following:
- An effort to recall George Gascón from his position as the Los Angeles County District Attorney did not qualify for the ballot. The L.A. County Registrar’s office validated 520,000 out of the 715,833 submitted signatures, which fell short of the 566,857 that were required for an election to be scheduled.[1][2][3] Recall supporters said that crime had risen in the county since Gascón had taken office and alleged that he had given “directives to his prosecutors, instructing them to go soft on crime, coddle criminals, and trample upon the dignity and rights of crime victims.” Gascón responded by highlighting the increase in violent crime prior to his tenure as district attorney and argued that he was taking a data-based, public health approach to dealing with crime.[4][5][6]
- Recall organizers filed a notice of intent to recall Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León in October 2022. The petition centered on de León's participation in an October 2021 meeting, in which, according to organizers, de León made racist comments about Councilman Mike Bonin's son. In response, de León apologized for participating in the meeting but also stated that, "These individuals have weaponized the recall process against the voters of Council District 14 (CD14) by trying to overturn election results."[7] For a recall election to be scheduled, organizers had until March 31, 2023, to collect 20,437 signatures from registered voters in District 14.[2][8]
- Organizers initiated an attempt to recall Colorado state Sen. Kevin Priola (D) on August 24, 2022. Proponents of the recall effort criticized Priola over his support of a gas tax and legislation that would provide safe injection sites for drug users. On August 22, 2022, Priola switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democratic, but the switch was not mentioned as a reason for recall in the petition statement. In response to the recall effort, Priola said, "I just find it interesting, when just two years ago (Republicans) ran campaign ads talking about how bipartisan I am and how I’m a problem solver who worked to create solutions for Coloradans. Now they’re going to find some reason why I’m bad."[9] An October 2022 court order put the recall on hold until Priola was sworn in to represent Colorado State Senate District 13 in January 2023. Prior to redistricting in 2022, he represented District 25.[10][11][12]
- An effort to recall three of the seven members of the Salem-Keizer Public Schools school board in Oregon did not qualify for the ballot after organizers did not turn in the required number of signatures by the November 2022 deadline. The effort began after the school board voted 4-3 to approve a resolution prohibiting concealed guns on school property. Representatives Osvaldo Avila, Ashley Carson-Cottingham, and Karina Guzman Ortiz, the officeholders subject to recall, each said that they were focused on serving students and that they viewed the recall as a distraction.[13][14]
Statistics
Ballotpedia covers recall efforts across the country for all state and local elected offices. Eight individuals were included in multiple recall efforts in 2022. Their statuses for each effort are included in the statistics in the following paragraph.
In 2022, Ballotpedia covered 269 recall efforts against 453 officials. Sixty officials were successfully removed from office via a recall election. Thirty-two officials resigned after recall efforts were started against them, 46 were put on the ballot but defeated the recall to stay in office, and the recall efforts targeting 254 officials failed to make the ballot. Recall elections for another 13 officials had been scheduled but not held as of this report's publication, and 56 officials faced recall efforts that remained underway into 2023.
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 with the same counts from prior years.
City council members drew more recall petitions than any other group in 2022, which was a return to a pattern from 2016 to 2020. In 2021 and the first half of 2022, school board members drew the most recall petitions. A total of 177 city council or town board members faced recall campaigns in 2022, while 123 school board members faced recall campaigns, the second-most. Recalls were also sought for 56 mayors. At state-level government, six state executives and two state legislators faced recall efforts. A breakdown of the various recall targets is displayed in the chart below:
Targets by state
Ballotpedia covered a total of 269 recall efforts against 453 officials in 30 states as well as Washington, D.C. Michigan led the way in officials targeted for recall with 136 in 2022. California followed with 74. 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 1.35 recalls per 100,000 residents. It is followed by Alaska (0.82 recalls per 100,000 residents) and Idaho (0.74 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 covered 35 coronavirus-related recall efforts against 94 officials in 2022, accounting for 13% of recalls that year. 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 COVID-related 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
George Gascón recall, California
Two efforts to recall George Gascón from his position as the Los Angeles County District Attorney in California did not qualify for the ballot. The first recall attempt in 2021 failed to garner the required 579,062 signatures from registered voters in the county by October 26, 2021.[15][16] The second recall petition also failed to gain the required 566,857 signatures by July 6, 2022, to get the recall on the ballot, with the L.A. County Registrar's office validating 520,000 out of the 715,833 submitted signatures.[1][2][3] As of December 2022, a lawsuit filed by recall supporters against Los Angeles County is underway. Recall supporters allege that the county improperly invalidated at least 39% of the 195,783 rejected signatures, thereby preventing the recall from appearing on the ballot. Los Angeles County filed papers with the court disputing these allegations.[17]
Supporters of recalling Gascón said that crime had risen in the county since he had taken office and alleged that Gascón gave “directives to his prosecutors, instructing them to go soft on crime, coddle criminals, and trample upon the dignity and rights of crime victims.”[5][18] Supporters of the first recall attempt against Gascón in 2021 criticized the district attorney for his policies towards recidivist violent offenders and reduced sentences for committers of certain violent crimes. On February 22, 2022, the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys (LAADDA) took a vote on whether to support the recall. A total of 83.3% of the prosecutors voted, and 97.9% of them supported the recall.[19]
Gascón responded to the recall attempts by defending his policies and noting the challenge of criminal justice reform, denying that he was responsible for the rise in homicides and robberies in Los Angeles County.[20] Gascón highlighted the increase in violent crime prior to his tenure as district attorney and argued that he was taking a data-based, public health approach to dealing with crime.[6] Gascón also defended his criminal justice reform policies by contending that the existing criminal justice system has roots in racism.[21]
Gascón was elected to a four-year term in the nonpartisan general election on November 3, 2020, defeating incumbent Jackie Lacey with 53.5% of the vote.[22]
Kevin de León recall, California
Recall organizers filed a notice of intent to recall Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León in October 2022. The petition centered on de León's participation in an October 2021 meeting with Councilwoman Nury Martinez, Councilman Gil Cedillo, and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera. Organizers alleged that, in the meeting, de León made racist comments about Councilman Mike Bonin's son and did not intervene when Martinez made racist remarks against Black, indigenous, Jewish, and Armenian people. A transcript of the meeting, the audio of which leaked in October 2022, can be found here.[2][7][8]
De León, whose term will end in December 2024, apologized for his participation in the meeting. He said, "I'm sorry to all of my colleagues. I'm sorry to my family, to Mike Bonin's family, to all the communities who have been hurt by that meeting. I failed. I failed in that moment in time to step up and shut that meeting down."[23] However, de León also said that he did not plan to resign. His statement on the recall effort read, "These individuals have weaponized the recall process against the voters of Council District 14 (CD14) by trying to overturn election results. A recall election will cost taxpayers millions at a time when the city should be spending its resources to support families and small businesses in need."[7]
For a recall election to be scheduled, organizers had until March 31, 2023, to collect 20,437 signatures from registered voters in District 14.[2]
Eagle Rock resident Pauline Adkins, a leader of the recall effort, had previously filed three other notices of intent to recall de León, two in 2022 and one in 2021. Previous petitions alleged that de León had failed to make progress on homelessness in the district. None of the previous recall efforts qualified for the ballot.[24][25][26]
Voters elected de León to represent District 14 on the Los Angeles City Council in 2020. He earned 52.6% of the vote in the nonpartisan primary on March 3, 2020. He previously represented District 24 in the California State Senate.
Kevin Priola recall, Colorado State Senate
An effort to recall Colorado state Sen. Kevin Priola (D) was initiated on August 24, 2022. Advance Colorado Action is the group leading the recall effort, and Louisa Andersen and Jeff Sloan are the official proponents of the recall. Supporters of the recall originally had 60 days—or no later than November 8, 2022—to collect 18,291 signatures to require a recall election. On October 10, 2022, District Judge Marie A. Moses issued a temporary injunction; halting any further action on the recall effort. Judge Moses wrote in her decision, "The Secretary’s approval of the Recall Petition allowed a shift in the recall right to constituents of a neighboring district whom Sen. Priola does not currently represent and will not represent until January 9, 2023."[10]
According to the order, the recall cannot be circulated again for signatures until Priola is sworn into Senate District 13 in January 2023.[10] At the time of the recall's approval by the secretary of state's office in August, any signatures collected for the recall had to come from within District 13 even though Priola was at the time representing District 25. During the 2020 redistricting cycle, Priola was redistricted from District 25 to District 13. On October 18, 2022, the Colorado Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from the recall group on the court order.[27] It is unclear if recall supporters will continue the effort after Priola is sworn into District 13.[28]
Proponents of the recall effort criticize Priola over his support of a gas tax and legislation that would provide safe injection sites for drug users.[11] Michael Fields, a senior advisor of the recall group, said in a statement on the recall: "Recalling Kevin Priola would be good for SD 13 and good for the State of Colorado. His record at the Capitol has been terrible. He voted for higher fees and taxes, to take away our TABOR refund checks, for 'safe' injection sites, and to decriminalize fentanyl. Voters in SD 13 deserve to decide who they want to represent them. My guess is they’ll pick someone they can actually trust and who more closely reflects their views."[9]
On August 22, 2022, Priola switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. Priola said in a statement, "I cannot continue to be a part of a political party that is okay with a violent attempt to overturn a free and fair election and continues to peddle claims that the 2020 election was stolen."[29] Priola's party switch was not mentioned as a reason for recall in the petition statement.[12]
Priola told The Denver Post that the recall petition was "a political move of the sort 'that most people are sick and tired of.'" He also said, "I just find it interesting, when just two years ago (Republicans) ran campaign ads talking about how bipartisan I am and how I’m a problem solver who worked to create solutions for Coloradans. Now they’re going to find some reason why I’m bad."[9]
Priola was elected in 2016 to state Senate District 25 with 52% of the vote. He was re-elected in 2020 with 51%. He is term-limited from seeking re-election in 2024.[30]
Salem-Keizer Public Schools recall, Oregon
An effort to recall three of the seven members of the Salem-Keizer Public Schools school board in Oregon began in August 2022. Zone 1 representative Osvaldo Avila, Zone 3 representative Ashley Carson-Cottingham, and Zone 5 representative Karina Guzman Ortiz were named in the recall petitions.[13][31]
The effort began after the school board voted 4-3 on August 9, 2022, to approve a resolution prohibiting concealed guns on school property. Zone 7 representative Maria Hinojos Pressey voted with the three members included in the recall effort to approve the resolution. Recall supporters said they did not include Hinojos Pressey in the recall effort because they found her to be more responsive to constituents and more willing to question district leaders.[13][32]
The recall petitions were filed by Casity Troutt. In addition to the resolution prohibiting concealed guns on school property, Troutt included the board members' support for keeping books about gender and sexuality in school libraries, their support of removing student resource officers from schools, and their handling of public comment periods during school board meetings as reasons for the recall effort. The petitions also said the board members did not prioritize academics for students.[13][33]
In response to the recall effort, Avila said, "The schools in our district have made tremendous strides recovering from the crises of the last few years, but (there) is a lot more work to be done. As a father of kids in Salem-Keizer school and a board member, working on behalf of our students and teachers is the only thing I am thinking about."[13]
Carson-Cottingham said, "As Chair of our school board and the mom of two kids in Salem-Keizer schools, my only focus is making sure we have a successful school year. Distractions right now are not going to help get students prepared."[13]
Guzman Ortiz said, "I am excited for the new school year ahead for thousands of children and youth, including my own. I am focused on my duty and commitment to serve and support all students. I simply don’t have time for politics."[13]
To get the recalls on the ballot, supporters would have had to collect 16,283 signatures per board member by November 23, 2022. Supporters did not collect enough signatures to put the recall on the ballot.[14]
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 (2022)
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Fox News, "Los Angeles DA George Gascon recall petition approved by county registrar," January 28, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 The Hill, "Here’s what to know about the Los Angeles County DA recall effort," July 17, 2022 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "approved" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 3.0 3.1 Los Angeles Times, "Second effort to force Los Angeles D.A. George Gascón into recall election fails," August 15, 2022
- ↑ Recall District Attorney George Gascon, "Why Recall George Gascón?" accessed December 8, 2021
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 California Globe, "Second Recall Petition Against LA DA George Gascon Begins," December 7, 2021
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 KTLA 5, "L.A. County DA George Gascón addresses opposition to his reforms amid recall effort," June 5, 2021
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Los Angeles Times, "Organizers launch bid to recall embattled L.A. City Councilmember Kevin de León," October 27, 2022
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Los Angeles Times, "Breaking down crucial moments in the racist leaked recording of L.A. councilmembers," October 10, 2022
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 The Denver Post, "Party-switching Sen. Kevin Priola faces recall petition bid by activists," August 24, 2022
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 The Gazette, "Recall of party-switching state senator halted by Denver judge," October 11, 2022
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Ark Valley Voice, "Republicans Launch Recall Bid of Priola," August 25, 2022
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Colorado Politics, "GOP group launches bid to recall Priola after Colorado lawmaker becomes a Democrat," August 24, 2022
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 Salem Reporter, "3 on school board targeted for recall following concealed carry ban, efforts to remove books," September 1, 2022
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Salem Reporter, "Salem-Keizer School Board recall falls short of signature goal," November 23, 2022
- ↑ LAist, "Effort To Recall LA DA Gascón Fails; Backers Vow To Try Again," September 16, 2021
- ↑ ABC 7, "Signature-gathering approved for recall effort against DA George Gascón, organizers say," May 21, 2021
- ↑ Los Angeles Daily News, "LA County election official defends Gascon recall signature invalidations," November 29, 2022
- ↑ Recall District Attorney George Gascon, "Why Recall George Gascón?" accessed December 8, 2021
- ↑ Fox News, "Gascon recall: Nearly 98% of Los Angeles prosecutors voted in support of effort to oust DA," February 22, 2022
- ↑ ABC 7, "Los Angeles DA Gascon defends policy reforms, fends off critics," December 8, 2021
- ↑ LAist, "Facing a Recall Campaign, DA Gascón Rallies Supporters," June 18, 2021
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "LA County Election Results: General Election November 3, 2020," accessed March 11, 2021
- ↑ NBC Los Angeles, "Kevin De Leon Will Not Resign, He Says," October 20, 2022
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Another L.A. recall effort has sprung up. This one targets Councilman Kevin de León," July 20, 2021
- ↑ The Epoch Times, "Organizers Refile Petition to Recall Kevin de León," March 1, 2022
- ↑ The Eastsider, "Organizers launch second recall against L.A. Councilman Kevin de Leon," May 11, 2022
- ↑ Colorado Newsline, "Colorado Supreme Court denies appeal in state Sen. Kevin Priola recall," October 21, 2022
- ↑ The Denver Post, "Renewed recall of party-switching Colorado lawmaker “more unlikely” in wake of GOP’s election losses," November 18, 2022
- ↑ Axios, "Colorado lawmaker leaves GOP citing Jan. 6 attack and Trump," August 22, 2022
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Secretary of State’s Office Provides Cost Estimate, Signature Threshold to Proponents of Effort to Recall Senator Kevin Priola," August 29, 2022
- ↑ Salem-Keizer Public Schools, "School Board Directors," accessed September 7, 2022
- ↑ Salem Reporter, "Divided school board bans concealed carry in Salem-Keizer," August 10, 2022
- ↑ Facebook, "Salem-Keizer Education First post on September 1, 2022," accessed September 7, 2022