Terrance Rowe recall, Port Richey, Florida (2019)

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Port Richey Mayoral recall
Officeholders
Terrance Rowe
Recall status
Resigned
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2019 Recalls in Florida Florida recall laws Mayoral recalls Recall reports

An effort in Port Richey, Florida, to recall Vice Mayor Terrance Rowe was initiated in April 2019. Rowe resigned from his position on June 27, 2019. The first round of signatures in the recall effort against Rowe was found valid on May 6, 2019. Petitioners were in the process of gathering another round of signatures when Rowe resigned.

Recall supporters

Organizers initiated the recall process following Rowe's arrest on charges of obstruction of justice after he had a recorded jailhouse phone call with former Mayor Dale Massad. On that call, Massad and Rowe discussed a Port Richey police officer involved in the arrest of Massad in February 2019. Rowe said, "You know, this doesn't go down without somebody answering for it." On February 21, 2019, Massad was arrested on charges of practicing medicine without a license and shooting at the SWAT team sent to arrest him.

Recall opponents

Rowe submitted a statement of defense after the first round of signatures was gathered. He said, "These petitions claim that I wrongfully exercised my lawful authority, and as an official, committed misconduct via the misuse of confidential information. The statements in this petition have not been proven in a court of law; they are accusations and therefore have no merit."

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Florida

Petitioners were required to submit valid signatures equal to 10% of the registered voters in the city—179 signatures. There were 208 signatures submitted on April 30, 2019. On May 6, the Pasco County supervisor of elections verified that enough valid signatures were submitted to move the recall forward. On May 10, Rowe was notified that enough signatures were verified. Recall targets have five days to submit a statement of defense after being notified that the first round of signatures was found valid. After the statement of defense has been sent to the recall committee, petitioners have 60 days to collect another round of signatures equaling 15% of the registered voters in the city. Rowe's statement of defense was received on May 15, and the second round of signature gathering began on May 20. Petitioners would have needed 269 valid signatures by July 19 to put the recall election on the ballot. Rowe's resignation on June 27 ended the recall process.

See also

• Recall campaigns in Florida
• Political recall efforts, 2019
• Mayoral recalls

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• Port Richey, Florida