In 2024, Ballotpedia tracked the fewest recall efforts and officials targeted for recall since 2020. From January 1 through December 20, 2024, 244 recall efforts were launched against 381 officials. This was higher than the 238 efforts targeting 301 officials in 2020, but it marks the third consecutive year of decline since the 2021 peak, which saw 357 efforts targeting 545 officials.
A total of 76 officials were removed from office through recall elections, representing 20% of those targeted. This is the third-highest removal rate since Ballotpedia began tracking recall data in 2012.
For the third consecutive year, city council members were the most targeted group, having also been the top target from 2016 to 2020. In 2021, school board members were the most targeted group.
Michigan led the nation in officials targeted for recall in 2024, with 70 officials targeted. California followed behind with 64 officials targeted. Michigan also had the most officials targeted for recall in 2018, 2022, and 2023, while California had the most officials targeted for recall from 2016 to 2017 and 2019 to 2021.
Several notable officials faced recall elections in 2024. On November 5, 2024, District Attorney Pamela Price in Alameda County, California, was recalled with 63% voting in favor and 37% against. This marked the first successful recall of a district attorney in the county’s history. In Oakland, California, Mayor Sheng Thao was also recalled on the same day with 61% voting for her removal. Thao’s recall was also historic, as it was the first time a mayor in Oakland had been successfully recalled. In both cases, recall organizers cited public safety concerns among their reasons for the recall.
In this report, Ballotpedia also highlighted two other noteworthy recall campaigns:
- An effort against two of the seven school board members for the Juneau Borough School District in Alaska.
- An effort against city council members David Auge and Michael Farrow in Page, Arizona.
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