Early voting has begun in the recall election targeting Mayor Daisy Lee Valdez in Rio Bravo, Texas. Early voting lasts until November 1. The recall election is being held on November 5.

 

Petitioners began gathering signatures for the recall in July 2019. They accused Valdez of taking $5,000 from the city to purchase gift cards. Valdez responded that the gift cards were used in order to pay for a road’s repair. She said the municipal government used Walmart gift cards for this payment because the city does not have an official debit card.

 

In 2018, Ballotpedia covered a total of 206 recall efforts against 299 elected officials. Of the 123 officials whose recalls made it to the ballot, 77 were recalled for a rate of 62.6 percent. That was higher than the 56.9 percent rate and 56.3 percent rate for 2017 and 2016 recalls, respectively.