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Deandre Barnes and Mark Whitaker recall, Portsmouth, Virginia (2022-2024)
| Deandre Barnes and Mark Whitaker recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Mark Whitaker |
| Recall status |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2024 Recalls in Virginia Virginia recall laws City council recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall City Councilmembers Deandre Barnes and Mark Whitaker did not go to a vote in Portsmouth, Virginia. Barnes and Whitaker were defeated in the regular general election for city council on November 5, 2024.[1][2]
Recall supporters
Recall organizers said that they initiated the recall after the council voted 4-3 to fire former City Manager Angel Jones in May 2022. Barnes and Whitaker voted in favor of firing Jones. The other two "yes" votes, Paul Battle and Christopher Woodard, were up for election in November of 2022.[3]
Recall opponents
Barnes offered the following comment on the recall to 13News Now.[3]
| “ |
"I’m excited to see our citizens engaged and exercising their rights. My concern is that we have more pressing issues in the city right now. We have been losing our children at an alarming rate, in which even I have been affected by losing my 12-year-old cousin to gun violence. My only hope is that the same passion they’re showing for this, they’ll gather in unity when our kids are getting shot dead in our Portsmouth streets.[4] |
” |
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Virginia
For a recall election to be scheduled, organizers would have needed to collect signatures from 10% of the number of people who voted for Barnes and Whitaker in the last election.[1]
Recall context
- See also: Ballotpedia's Recall Report
Ballotpedia covers recall efforts across the country for all state and local elected offices. A recall effort is considered official if the petitioning party has filed an official form, such as a notice of intent to recall, with the relevant election agency.
The chart below shows how many officials were included in recall efforts from 2012 to 2024 as well as how many of them defeated recall elections to stay in office and how many were removed from office in recall elections.
See also
- Recall campaigns in Virginia
- Political recall efforts, 2022
- Political recall efforts, 2023
- Political recall efforts, 2024
- City council recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 13News Now, "Portsmouth residents plan petition to recall council members," June 2, 2022
- ↑ The Virginian-Pilot, "Portsmouth’s Glover wins in run for mayor; two incumbents voted off City Council," November 8, 2024
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 13News Now, "Group of Portsmouth citizens calls for recall of De'Andre Barnes, Mark Whitaker," June 14, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
