Ballotpedia tracked two new recall efforts against local officials in Texas from July 31-Aug. 6, bringing the yearly statewide total to eight efforts against 16 officials. The most recent efforts are:
Mayor and city council recall, Keene, Texas (2023): Mayor Lisa Parrish and City Councilmembers Gwen Beeson, James Belz, and Ray Johnson. Jen Baggett filed the paperwork for the recall effort against Beeson, Belz, and Johnson. Baggett has said the recall effort was Mayor Parrish’s idea, which Parrish has denied. Parrish has said that Baggett initiated the recall effort due to the city council dismissing Parrish as interim city manager. Baggett chose not to turn in signatures for the effort to recall Beeson, Belz, and Johnson.Samantha Gillan helped organize the recall effort against Parrish. Parrish has said the recall effort against her is retaliatory.
Of the eight recall efforts this year, two have made the ballot. A recall election seeking to remove Michael Carlson from his position as a La Marque City councilman is on Nov. 7, 2023. A recall election seeking to remove Jesse Davis from his position as a Denton City councilman was held on May 6, 2023. Davis was recalled on May 6.
Nationwide, 301 officials are the subject of recall efforts through Aug. 6. Michigan leads the field with 109 officials targeted. Fifty-three targeted officials have made the recall ballot as of Aug. 6. Michigan leads the field with 15 officials on the ballot.
In 2022, Ballotpedia covered a total of 266 recall efforts against 448 officials in 30 states as well as Washington, D.C. Michigan led the way in officials targeted for recall with 133 in 2022. California followed with 72. From 2016 to 2021, California had the most officials targeted in five of the six years.
Looking at Texas alone, nine officials were targeted in 2022. This is less than the ten-year average of 16.
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