RECALL RECAP

2021 was a banner year for recall attempts of politicians in the U.S. Here’s a look at how it turned out.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom wasn’t the only politician to face a recall election in 2021, although he may have been the most high-profile politician to do so. As of May 5, the effort to recall Newsom submitted more than 2.1 million signatures and cleared the threshold of 1,495,709 to qualify for the ballot. In the end, Newsom prevailed over 45 candidates and won 61.8% of the vote. According to Ballotpedia’s coverage of 2021 recalls, it was one of the bigger years. Here’s a look at the report:

2021-2022 recalls in California

• Alex Fisch and Daniel Lee, Culver City

• Wendy Jonathan and Tricia Pearce , Desert Sands U.S.D.

• Nevada County Board of Supervisors

• Jose Lalas, Corona-Norco Unified School District

• J.R. Thiara, Live Oak

• Andrew Coolidge and Sean Morgan, Chico

• Tustin Unified School District

• Ellie Householder recall, Antioch Unified School District

• Orange County Board of Supervisors

• Terra Lawson-Remer, San Diego County

• John McKay, Morgan Hill

• Mayor and city council, Huntington Beach

• Catherine Alvarez, Downey Mayor and city council, Livingston

• Mike Bonin, Los Angeles

• Shasta County Board of Supervisors

• Cupertino Union School District

• Chesa Boudin recall, San Francisco

• George Gascón, Los Angeles County

• San Francisco Unified School District

An effort to recall George Gascón from his position as the Los Angeles County district attorney in California began in December 2021. An earlier recall attempt against Gascón did not go to a vote in 2021. Gascón was elected to a four-year term in the general election on Nov. 3, 2020, defeating incumbent Jackie Lacey with 53.5% of the vote.

Sources: Ballotpedia, California Secretary of State’s Office, The Associated Press CALIFORNIA RECALL HISTORY According to the California Secretary of State’s office, since 1913, there have been 179 recall attempts of state elected officials . Ten recall efforts collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot and, of those, the elected official was recalled in six instances.

Recall efforts by state, 2021 Ballotpedia covered a total of 346 recall efforts against 535 officials in 30 states. California led the way in officials targeted for recall with 131 in 2021. Michigan followed with 53 officials, and Arizona came in third with 51 officials. From 2016 to 2020, California had the most officials targeted in four of the five years. Ballotpedia did not track recall efforts in the states shown in gray.

Recalls by state per 100,000 residents, 2021 When adjusted for state population using the U.S. Census Bureau’s April 2020 population estimates, Nebraska emerges as the recall leader with 1.33 officials included in recall efforts per 100,000 residents. It is followed by Alaska (1.23 recalls per 100,000 residents) and North Dakota (1.16 per 100,000 residents). From 2017 to 2020, Idaho led the country in the number of officials included in recall efforts per 100,000 residents in three of the four years. In 2017, Alaska also had the most.

Gascón