Out of the 306 elected officials named in recall efforts in 2025, 32 had been removed from office in a recall election as of Oct. 10, a success rate of 10%. That rate is lower than the 17% success rate Ballotpedia tracked from 2010 to 2024. The highest success rate occurred in 2011, when 83 of the 308 officials targeted for recall were removed from office in a recall election, a success rate of 27%. The lowest success rate occurred in 2021, when 25 of the 545 officials targeted for recall were removed from office in a recall election, a success rate of 5%.
A political recall is the process by which citizens can remove elected officials from office before their term is completed. This process typically includes the circulation of petitions by recall organizers, the evaluation of signatures by election officials, and a public vote if the petitions are deemed to have a sufficient number of valid signatures. The details of the recall process vary from state to state. Click here to learn about the laws governing recalls in each state.
When looking at recalls by state, California saw the highest number of officials included in recall efforts since 2010 with 1,055. Those officials accounted for 19% of all recalls Ballotpedia had tracked as of Oct. 10. Michigan had the second-highest, with 1,013 (18%), and Colorado was third-highest, with 394 (7%).
The map below shows the total number of officials targeted for recall in each state from 2010 to Oct. 10, 2025. Ballotpedia did not track any recall efforts in the states shown in gray.
Among all office types in 2025, city council members had the most recall petitions filed against them as of Oct. 10. School board members came in second with 39, and state legislators were third with 37.
From 2010 to 2024, city council members had the most recall petitions filed against them, except in 2021 when school board members had the most. School board members had the second-most recall petitions filed against them in every year except 2021, when they had the most, and 2017, when they ranked third after city council members and mayors.
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