Kelly Cobb-Lemire recall, Braintree School Department, Massachusetts (2020)

• Recall efforts
  • Recall efforts by state
  • Recall efforts by office
  • Recall efforts by year
  • Upcoming recall elections
• Local recalls
  • City council recalls
  • Mayoral recalls
  • County commission recalls
  • County official recalls
  • School board recalls
  • Sheriff recalls
  • Special district recalls
• State and federal recalls
  • State executive recalls
  • State legislator recalls
  • U.S. Congress recalls
• Laws governing recall
  • States that have pre-petition signature requirements for recalls
  • States that require grounds for recalls
• Analysis
  • What are recalls?
  • Recall terms
  • 2024 year-end analysis
  • 2024 mid-year analysis
  • 2023 year-end analysis
  • 2023 mid-year analysis
  • 2022 year-end analysis
  • 2022 mid-year analysis
  • 2021 year-end analysis
  • 2021 mid-year analysis
  • 2020 year-end analysis
  • 2020 mid-year analysis
  • 2019 year-end analysis
  • 2019 mid-year analysis
  • 2018 year-end analysis
  • 2018 mid-year analysis
  • 2017 year-end analysis
  • 2017 mid-year analysis
  • 2016 year-end analysis
  • 2016 mid-year analysis

Braintree School Department recall
Officeholders
Kelly Cobb-Lemire
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2020 Recalls in Massachusetts Massachusetts recall laws School board recalls Recall reports

An effort to recall Kelly Cobb-Lemire from her position as a member of the Braintree School Committee in Massachusetts did not go to a vote in 2020.

The effort began after Cobb-Lemire wrote the following post on her personal Facebook page in September 2020:

“	Yesterday, I made a food pantry delivery to a gentleman I don't normally deliver to. He had a 'Veterans for Trump' sign in his window, and then he came out with an NRA shirt on. So wishing I believed in getting rewards in some afterlife.	”
—Kelly Cobb-Lemire

Recall supporters said the post disparaged an elderly veteran. Cobb-Lemire apologized for the post and said she did not have malicious intent when she wrote it.

The Braintree School Committee contains seven members, including the Mayor of Braintree. Cobb-Lemire was elected to a four-year term on the board in November 2019.

Recall supporters

Kimberly Sacco led the recall effort. She said she felt Cobb-Lemire's post should disqualify her from serving on the school committee. “Based on the irreparable disrespect for our veterans, what would she do to our children?” Sacco said.

At a school board meeting on October 5, 2020, she asked Cobb-Lemire to resign from her position in order to save the town from spending money on a special recall election.

Recall opponents

In response to criticism of her Facebook post, Cobb-Lemire published the following statement on her Facebook page:

“	My father was a proud US Marine who served our country during the Korean Conflict and my brother is a retired US Naval officer who served our country for 20 years. I have two uncles who were boots-on-the ground soldiers in Vietnam. Anyone who knows me knows that I hold our veterans in the highest regard. However, recently someone published screenshots of a post I made on my personal Facebook page and accused me of holding some despicable opinions. For anyone to say I am anti-veteran is an outright lie. The post was about delivering a meal to someone on the opposite end of the political spectrum. I joked about it being my ticket into heaven. I am a Democrat who delivered a meal "across the aisle" in our modern era, one of unprecedented partisan division and shocking vitriol. So I made a joke poking fun at myself for feeling so good about it, and it backfired in the worst possible way. Some people read my misguided attempt at self-deprecation as mockery of a veteran. For that, I sincerely apologize. It was never my intention to disparage the man or his service. Anyone who read my words this way should know I am deeply sorry for the pain I have caused. Having said that, I want to be very clear – it is reprehensible that I, or anyone, should be subjected to threats of rape and murder because of a social media misstep or my political leanings. There is a dangerous trend happening in Braintree. Since 2018, nine women in our town – mothers, teachers, local business owners – have been terrorized after Braintree residents fed their personal information to a repugnant, misogynistic blog infamous for publicly humiliating women of a certain political persuasion, inviting and encouraging doxxing, criminal harassment, and threats of torture and assault against them. I have dedicated my entire adult life to service— nearly 20 years of it in Braintree, and I refuse to allow this vile behavior to keep me from doing the important work I set out to do both for the community and when I was sworn into office. Please be assured that my focus is and will always continue to be on the community of Braintree and our students —advocating for their well-being, ensuring that they all have safe and stimulating environments in which to learn, and supporting them in their academic success. I chose to hold my statement until after the debt exclusion vote, because I did not want to jeopardize or distract attention from the crucial election regarding much-needed funding for our schools. I am on the side of students regardless of the personal cost to me. I appreciate being held accountable for my words. Words matter and we all know now more than ever how important it is that our community leaders think seriously about every word they choose. Going forward, I will be mindful of all possible implications of my statements to ensure they accurately reflect my values.	”
—Kelly Cobb-Lemire

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Massachusetts

To start the recall effort, recall supporters would have had to collect an initial 400 signatures with at least 50 coming from each of the city's six voting districts. Those signatures would have needed to be verified before the recall petition would have been allowed to circulate. At that point, signatures would have had to be collected from 2,700 registered voters in three weeks to get the recall on the ballot.

2020 recall efforts

See also: School board recalls

Ballotpedia tracked 29 school board recall efforts against 64 board members in 2020. Four recall elections were held in 2020. The school board recall success rate was 7.8%.

The chart below details the status of 2020 recall efforts by individual school board member.

See also

• Braintree School Department, Massachusetts
• Recall campaigns in Massachusetts
• Political recall efforts, 2020
• School board recalls

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Braintree Public Schools
• Braintree Town Clerk