Ballotpedia's Mid-Year Recall Report (2019)

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Recall elections in 2019: Mid-year report
Statistics
115 targeted officials 72 separate recall efforts
Notable recalls
Alaska Colorado Florida Massachusetts New Mexico

June 27, 2019
By Ballotpedia staff

During the first half of 2019, Ballotpedia's coverage of recalls showed a downturn in total efforts compared to the midway points in 2016, 2017, and 2018. Ballotpedia covered a total of 72 recall efforts against 115 officials through June 27, 2019. During similar time periods in the preceding three years, a minimum of 134 efforts and a maximum of 189 efforts were covered.

In other ways, however, 2019 appears similar to previous years. As in 2016, 2017, and 2018, California led the pack with the highest number of officials targeted for recall in 2019, and city council officials also drew the focus of more recall petitions than any other group.

Of the recall efforts covered in the first half of 2019, 37% were still underway and another 11% had future elections scheduled. Conversely, 17% of the efforts did not make it to the ballot. Another 15% of the recall efforts had made it to the ballot and been approved prior to this report's publication, while 10% made it to the ballot but were defeated.

Notable recalls across the first half of 2019 included the following:

• Alaska state Rep. Gary Knopp (R) faced a recall effort that was underway at the time of publication due to his role in forming a majority coalition with Democrats.
• In Fall River, Massachusetts, a recall vote on March 12, 2019, against Mayor Jasiel Correia II was approved, but Correia was able to retain his seat after simultaneously winning the second portion of the ballot meant to select his replacement.
• An effort to recall three of the five members of the Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education in New Mexico received a judge's approval to begin circulating recall petitions but was on hold as of publication until two appeals to the New Mexico Supreme Court—one from recall supporters and one from recall opponents—were resolved.
• In Port Richey, Florida, Vice Mayor Terrance Rowe faced a recall effort following his February 2019 arrest on charges of practicing medicine without a license and shooting at the SWAT team sent to arrest him.
• Colorado state Rep. Tom Sullivan (D) faced a recall effort that ended on June 11, 2019, due to his support or sponsorship of four bills, including legislation designed to temporarily remove guns from people who were deemed a threat to themselves or others.

Statistics

From January 1, 2019, through June 27, 2019, Ballotpedia covered a total of 72 recall efforts against 115 officials. Efforts against 43 of those officials remain ongoing. Recall attempts targeting 20 officials did not make it to the ballot and are marked as "Unsuccessful" on the chart. Of the 29 officials whose recalls made it to the ballot, 17 were recalled and 12 survived the attempt. Three other officials resigned before their recalls could go to a vote. A breakdown of the various recall outcomes is displayed in the chart below:

Targets by state

California led the way in officials targeted for recall with 18 through June 27, 2019. Idaho followed with 17 officials facing recall. To view the number of recalls in a particular state, hover your mouse cursor over that state:

When adjusted for state population using the U.S. Census Bureau's July 2018 population estimates, Idaho emerges as the recall leader with 0.51 recalls per 100,000 residents. It is followed by Maine (0.37 recalls per 100,000 residents) and Colorado (0.16 recalls per 100,000 residents).

Notable recalls

Gary Knopp recall, Alaska House of Representatives

See also: Gary Knopp recall, Alaska House of Representatives (2019)

Rep. Gary Knopp (R)

A recall election seeking to remove state Rep. Gary Knopp (R) from the Alaska House of Representatives was underway at the time of publication. Recall supporters need about 1,000 signatures to request a recall petition from Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer (R). If Meyer accepts the application, supporters will need about an additional 3,000 signatures to force a recall election.

Knopp has been targeted for recall due to his role in forming a majority coalition with Democrats. Recall supporters argue Knopp’s actions contributed to delays and disruption to the 2019 legislative session, which prevented the legislature from finishing all of its scheduled work. Prior to the legislative session, Knopp announced that he was leaving the Republican caucus and would help form a majority coalition with Democrats. He said, "A 21 member caucus cannot succeed. It’s doomed for failure and I’m not going to be on that train. I’m not joining the Democrats either. I’m doing this to try and force a true coalition." Over 30 days in January and February, Knopp helped to form a coalition of 15 Democrats, eight Republicans, and two members unaffiliated with either party. That coalition elected Bryce Edgmon (undeclared) as House Speaker on February 14, 2019. This resulted in the parties having split control of key leadership positions in a power-sharing agreement.

Due to the delays at the beginning of its session, the legislature was unable to finish all of its work. In response, Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) called the legislature into a 30-day special session on May 15, 2019. That special session was tasked with passing legislation related to criminal reform, the operating budget, the mental health budget, the capital budget, and education funding. A second special session was scheduled for July 8 to address the state's capital budget and Permanent Fund dividend.

Knopp was censured by the Alaska Republican Party in May 2019 for his role in the disruptions to the start of the 2019 legislative session. Because of the censure, Knopp will no longer receive support from the state party.

Jasiel Correia recall, Fall River, Massachusetts

See also: Jasiel Correia recall, Fall River, Massachusetts (2019)

Mayor Jasiel Correia II

In Fall River, Massachusetts, a March 12 recall vote against Mayor Jasiel Correia II was approved, but Correia was able to retain his seat after winning the second portion of the ballot meant to select his replacement. The recall was initiated in October 2018 after Correia was arrested on 13 charges of wire and tax fraud related to his company, SnoOwl. In a press conference following the indictment, Correia said he was innocent of the charges and that he would not resign from office. He said the voters of Fall River should let him continue to serve or recall him.

The recall ballot was split into two portions. On the first portion of the ballot, voters chose to recall Correia with 7,829 votes cast in favor of the recall and 4,911 votes cast in opposition to the recall. The second portion of the ballot allowed voters to choose who should serve as mayor in the event that the recall vote on the first part of the ballot succeeded. Correia qualified to run as a candidate for this stage of the election. He won by a plurality with 4,808 (35.4%) of the total votes cast. Runner-up Paul Coogan received 4,567 votes (33.6%), Joe Cmara received 1,971 votes (14.5%), Kyle Riley received 1,460 votes (10.8%), and Erica Scott-Pacheo received 740 votes (5.5%).

Following the recall vote, a group of 10 voters involved in the recall process filed a lawsuit seeking to block the certification of the results. The lawsuit alleged that a city charter approved in 2017 should have prohibited Correia from running for re-election as a part of the recall vote. On March 22, New Bedford Superior Court Judge Thomas J. Perrino ruled against the lawsuit. He said, "While the 2017 charter no longer expressly permits the officeholder who is the subject of a recall from also being a candidate, the plaintiff has not shown that the 2017 charter expressly excludes a recalled candidate from succeeding himself."

On June 21, Correia announced that he would seek re-election to a third term as mayor. He was still under indictment at the time of his announcement.

Las Cruces Public Schools recall, New Mexico

See also: Las Cruces Public Schools recall, New Mexico (2019)

An effort to recall three of the five members of the Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education in New Mexico received a judge's approval to begin circulating recall petitions on June 11, 2019. The targeted board members—District 1 member Ray Jaramillo, District 2 member Terrie Dallman, and District 3 member Maria Flores—appealed the judge's decision to the New Mexico Supreme Court. Recall supporters cannot circulate petitions until the appeal is resolved.

The recall effort was started by a group called Enough, which includes former district educators and administrators. The group said the entire school board had violated New Mexico open meetings and public records laws and had failed to supervise Superintendent Greg Ewing. Recall supporters criticized Ewing for increasing administrative salaries while the district was in a hiring freeze and for adding 14 central office administrators since he joined the district in December 2016.

All three targeted board members denied that they had violated any laws or policies. Dallman said he felt the will of the voters was being dismissed by the recall effort, and Flores said the complaints were not accurate and did not warrant a recall effort. Jaramillo said he felt he had worked in the best interest of district students. On June 12, 2019, the National Education Association-Las Cruces Board of Directors voted unanimously to oppose the recall effort.

Recall supporters also appealed to the New Mexico Supreme Court. "Since the group could not proceed with the recall, it made sense to get clarification from the Supreme Court regarding how the new definitions apply in assessing the other charges made by the group that Judge Martin did not consider," CaraLyn Banks, legal counsel for the group Enough, said in a statement to the Las Cruces Sun News. New Mexico's Recall Act was revised in 2019.

If the recall effort is allowed to proceed, recall supporters would have to collect signatures from one-third of the number of registered voters who voted in the last school board election for the District 1, 2, and 3 seats in 90 days to get the recall on the ballot. Approximately 83 signatures would be needed for Jaramillo's petition, 252 would be needed for Dallman's petition, and 424 would be needed for Flores' petition, according to the Las Cruces Sun News.

Terrance Rowe recall, Port Richey, Florida

See also: Terrance Rowe recall, Port Richey, Florida (2019)

Vice Mayor Terrance Rowe

In Port Richey, Florida, Vice Mayor Terrance Rowe is facing a recall effort that began in April after he was arrested on charges of obstruction of justice stemming from 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. Rowe said, "You know, this doesn't go down without somebody answering for it." On February 21, Massad was arrested on charges of practicing medicine without a license and shooting at the SWAT team sent to arrest him.

Rowe submitted a statement of defense after the first round of signatures were 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."

Rowe began serving as acting mayor after Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Massad In February. Massad resigned as mayor shortly after being suspended. DeSantis suspended Rowe on March 19, but Rowe did not resign from the city council. On June 18, voters elected Scott Tremblay in a special election for mayor.

Petitioners were required to submit an initial round of signatures equal to 10% of the registered voters in the city—179 signatures. There were 208 signatures submitted on April 30. 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 from being notified that the first round of signatures was found valid to submit a statement of defense. 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 need to gather 269 valid signatures by July 19 to put the recall on the ballot.

Tom Sullivan recall, Colorado House of Representatives

See also: Tom Sullivan recall, Colorado House of Representatives (2019)

Rep. Tom Sullivan (D)

An effort to recall state Rep. Tom Sullivan (D) from the Colorado House of Representatives was ended by the recall leader on June 11. Kristine Brown, the state’s Republican Party vice chair and leader of the recall, said in a Facebook post, “While we are pulling the recall today to focus on other essential efforts, Sullivan does not get a free pass. 2020 is the year to oust him, with the support of voters who now know how extreme he is.”

The recall had been approved for circulation by the secretary of state’s office on May 13. Supporters had a July 12 deadline to collect 10,035 signatures to force a recall election. According to recall supporters, the effort against Sullivan was due to his support or sponsorship of four specific bills, including legislation designed to temporarily remove guns from people who are deemed a threat to themselves or others. That bill, which created Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO) in Colorado, passed the House by a 38-25 margin with all votes in favor from Democrats and 23 Republicans joining with 2 Democrats in opposition. It was signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis (D) in April.

Sullivan was one of the primary sponsors of the ERPO legislation. His son was killed in the 2012 shootings at an Aurora movie theater. Sullivan was elected to the state House in 2018, defeating then-incumbent Cole Wist (R) in the general election with 54% of the vote. Wist, who held the seat for three years, co-sponsored an ERPO bill in 2018 and stated on Twitter that he did not support the effort to recall Sullivan.

State Sen. Jeff Bridges (D), state Rep. Meg Froelich (D), state Sen. Leroy Garcia (D), and state Rep. Bri Buentello (D) are all being targeted for recall in the Colorado State Legislature. As of today, none of those recalls have been approved for circulation. The recall targeting Rep. Rochelle Galindo (D) ended after she resigned her seat in May 2019.

See also

• Recall overview
• Political recall efforts
• Political recall efforts, 2019
• Laws governing recall
• Ballotpedia's 2018 Recall Analysis