Welcome to the Friday, Nov. 15, Brew.
By: Mercedes Yanora
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Historic recalls in California, as Oakland mayor and Alameda County district attorney are removed from office
- Looking back to 2021 and the use of executive orders to revoke administrative state policies
- Did you know that Clallam County, Washington, is no longer the county with the longest record of always voting for the winning presidential candidate?
Historic recalls in California, as Oakland mayor and Alameda County district attorney are removed from office
California voters recalled both Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price on Nov. 5. The recalls are first-of-their-kind, with Thao being the first Oakland mayor and Price the first Alameda County district attorney to be recalled.
Oakland is the largest city to recall its mayor since Ballotpedia began tracking recalls in 2010. Other large cities that have recalled their mayors include Seattle, Washington, and Wichita, Kansas in 1911, and Spokane, Washington, in 2005.
With 440,646 residents, Oakland is the 44th most populous city in the country. According to The San Francisco Chronicle, Thao’s recall is the first successful recall of a mayor in the city’s history. The last attempt was in 1917 when voters failed to recall Mayor John Davie.
As of 2020, Alameda County’s population was 1,682,353, making it the 19th most populous county in the country. According to election results as of Nov. 8, 296,893 people voted in the Price recall, making it the largest county-level district attorney recall by number of votes cast since at least 2009. Of the county-level district attorney recalls from 2009 to 2023, the 2021 recall election of Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch had the most votes cast, with 189,768.
As of June 2024, there were 164 recall efforts against 266 officials in 26 states this year. California and Michigan led the way in officials targeted for recall, with 57 each in the first half of the year. From 2016 to 2017 and 2019 to 2021, California had the most officials targeted for recall.
Oakland voters recalled Mayor Sheng Thao 61.6%-38.4%. The office is nonpartisan, but Thao is affiliated with the Democratic Party.
Following the recall, Thao said, “It was my goal to make Oakland safer, cleaner, and more vibrant. And I am proud of what we accomplished together. We brought crime down dramatically across the board with a historic 35% reduction in homicides. For the first time in over a decade, Oakland went over a month without a single murder. Our work literally saved lives.”
Official results will be certified on Dec. 5, at which time Thao must vacate the office. The Oakland City Council is expected to announce the vacancy at its Dec. 17 meeting, with a special election being held within 120 days of the announcement.
- Background
Voters elected Thao mayor on Nov. 8, 2022. She defeated Loren Taylor in the ninth round of ranked-choice voting with 50.3% of the vote to Taylor’s 49.7%.
Alameda County Registrar of Voters Tim Dupuis certified the recall for the ballot in June 2024, with recall supporters citing crime, public safety, and homelessness as key issues. Other criticisms included Thao firing Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong in February 2023 and a June 2024 FBI raid on Thao’s home. For more background on the arguments in support of recalling Thao, click here.
Oaklanders Defending Democracy, the official campaign against the recall, highlighted Thao’s record on crime, homelessness, and the economy, saying, “Oakland needs steady, experienced leadership to navigate these challenges, and this recall threatens to derail that stability. Instead of pushing the city toward progress, it would create political chaos, disrupt ongoing efforts, and waste millions of taxpayer dollars.” For more background on the arguments against recalling Thao, click here.
Noteworthy supporters of the recall included The San Francisco Chronicle, former Superior Court of Alameda County Justice Brenda Harbin-Forte, former Mayor Libby Schaaf, and the NAACP Oakland.
Noteworthy opponents of the recall included U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D), state Sen. Nancy Skinner (D), former Mayor Jean Quan, and the Alameda County Democratic Party.
Alameda County voters recalled District Attorney Pamela Price 65.2%-34.8%. The office is nonpartisan, but Price is affiliated with the Democratic Party.
The county must certify election results no later than Dec. 5, at which time Price must vacate the office. The county Board of Supervisors will appoint a replacement to serve until the next election in November 2026.
- Background
Voters first elected Price district attorney on Nov. 8, 2022. She defeated Terry Wiley 53.1% to 46.9%.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors certified the recall for the ballot in April 2024. Save Alameda for Everyone initiated the recall in 2023, alleging that Price refused to charge cases, lowered sentences, and replaced prosecutors who resigned with unqualified individuals. For more background on the arguments in support of recalling Price, click here.
Price said Republican-connected special interest groups organized the effort. Price defended what she called her criminal justice reforms, including alternatives to incarceration, charging juveniles as juveniles, holding police accountable, and not adding enhancements to charges. For more background on the arguments against recalling Price, click here.
U.S. Rep Eric Swalwell (D), San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, and the Alameda County Prosecutors Association supported the recall.
U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D), state Sen. Nancy Skinner (D), and the ACLU of Northern California opposed the recall.
Looking back to 2021 and the use of executive orders to revoke administrative state policies
With Donald Trump (R) set to be sworn in on Jan. 20, 2025, let’s look back to January 2021, when President Joe Biden (D) succeeded Trump. Biden signed 42 executive orders (E.O.s) in his first 100 days in office, 21 of which revoked Trump administration actions.
We tracked five Biden E.O.s, issued in the first five months of his presidency, that revoked 14 Trump E.O.s aimed at reforming the administrative state, which is a term used to describe the phenomenon of executive branch administrative agencies exercising the power to create, adjudicate, and enforce their own rules.
Trump’s campaign agenda said that a day-one priority would be to re-issue one of those revoked 2020 E.O.s designed to allow the president to remove federal employees who would have otherwise had civil service job protection. Here is a look at that revoked E.O. and several others.
Two Biden E.O.s, 13992 and 14003, revoked the following eight executive orders:
- Executive Order 13957 (Issued Oct. 21, 2020): Created a new Schedule F in the excepted service for competitive service employees in policy-related roles, making it easier to remove those employees.
- Executive Order 13771 (Issued Jan. 30, 2017): Established regulatory budgets for federal agencies and required agencies to eliminate two old regulations for each new regulation issued.
- Executive Order 13777 (Issued Feb. 24, 2017): Established new regulatory reform officers and regulatory reform task forces to oversee the implementation of E.O. 13771.
- Executive Order 13839 (Issued May 25, 2018): Aimed to streamline the discipline and dismissal processes for poor-performing federal employees.
- Executive Order 13875 (Issued June 14, 2019): Directed agencies to eliminate non-statutory advisory committees whose missions have been accomplished, whose subject matter has become obsolete, whose primary functions have been assumed by another entity, or whose costs outweigh benefits.
- Executive Order 13891 (Issued Oct. 9, 2019): Prohibited federal administrative agencies from issuing binding rules through guidance documents.
- Executive Order 13892 (Issued Oct. 9, 2019): Required federal administrative agencies to provide the public with fair notice of regulations.
- Executive Order 13893 (Issued Oct. 10, 2019): Required agencies to consider cost reduction efforts in administrative actions.
Biden’s E.O. 13992 also abolished “any personnel positions, committees, task forces, or other entities” established pursuant to the revoked executive orders. These included the regulatory reform officer positions and task forces established under Trump’s E.O. 13777.
In addition to executive orders, Biden signed three resolutions of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that repealed Trump administration rules. The CRA and executive orders are two mechanisms that presidents and elected officials can use to repeal rules and shift regulatory priorities with their administration.
Did you know that Clallam County, Washington, is no longer the county with the longest-running streak of always voting for the winning presidential candidate? In every presidential election from 1980 to 2020, Clallam County voted for the candidate who won the White House.
On Nov. 5, voters in Clallam County backed Vice President Kamala Harris (D) over former President Donald Trump (R) 52-45%.
Located in the westernmost part of Washington near Olympic National Park, Clallam County includes the cities of Port Angeles, Sequim, and Forks (the latter being the primary setting in Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight Saga).
Before the 2020 election, Clallam was one of 19 counties with an unbroken record of voting for the winning presidential candidate since 1980.
The new record holder is Blaine County, Montana, which started its streak in 1992. Blaine County is located in north-central Montana and includes the cities of Chinook and Harlem.
Click here to learn more about presidential voting patterns.