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Jared Polis recall, Governor of Colorado (2022)
| Gov. Jared Polis recall |
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| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2022 Recalls in Colorado Colorado recall laws Gubernatorial recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) was launched on February 24, 2022. Supporters of the recall had up to 60 days—or no later than April 25, 2022—to collect 631,266 signatures to require a recall election. According to Colorado Pols, the recall committee on April 25 requested an extension for the recall effort.[1] The extension was not approved and no signatures were submitted for the recall effort.[2]
Polis was elected as Colorado's governor in 2018 with 53.4% of the vote. Prior to the 2018 election, John Hickenlooper (D) served as governor from 2011 to 2019.
To read about other recall efforts related to the coronavirus and government responses to the pandemic, click here.
Recall supporters
The recall petition was introduced by Lori Ann Cutunilli and Gregory Allan VanDell. It was approved for circulation on February 24, 2022. The recall petition listed the following reasons for recall:[3]
| “ |
Jared Polis betrayed the office of Colorado Governor, abandoned his Oath and is derelict in his duties.
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” |
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Colorado
First, a recall petition must be filed with the office in which nomination petitions are filed for the office that is being recalled. Generally, this office is the Colorado Secretary of State. The petition must include a statement of no less than 200 words explaining the ground on which the official is to be recalled. This regulation is for the benefit of citizens who will sign the petition.
After the petition is approved by the Secretary of State, circulation of the petition may begin. Petitioners have 60 days to gather the proper number of signatures. The number of valid signatures required to force a special recall election is 25% of the votes cast in the last election for the official being recalled. After the proper number of signatures have been gathered the petition is submitted to the office in which it was filed to be deemed sufficient. This entails verifying the signatures. Once the petition has been deemed sufficient, the office in which it was filed will deliver the petition along with a certificate of its sufficiency to the governor who will then set a date for the recall election.
Ballotpedia covered 35 coronavirus-related recall efforts against 94 officials in 2022, accounting for 13% of recalls that year. This is a decrease from both 2020 and 2021. COVID-related recalls accounted for 37% of all recall efforts in both 2020 and 2021. In 2020, there were 87 COVID-related recalls against 89 officials, and in 2021, there were 131 against 214 officials.
The chart below compares coronavirus-related recalls to recalls for all other reasons in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Election history
2018
General election
General election for Governor of Colorado
Jared Polis defeated Walker Stapleton, Scott Helker, and Bill Hammons in the general election for Governor of Colorado on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jared Polis (D) | 53.4 | 1,348,888 |
 | Walker Stapleton (R) | 42.8 | 1,080,801 | |
| Scott Helker (L) | 2.8 | 69,519 | ||
 | Bill Hammons (Unity Party) | 1.0 | 25,854 | |
| Total votes: 2,525,062 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Korey Paul Starkey (Independent)
- Veronique Bellamy (G)
- George Allen Cantrell (Constitution Party)
- Michael Wilbourn (Independent)
- Kathleen Cunningham (Unaffiliated)
- Paul Willmon (Unaffiliated)
- Richard Osada (Independent)
- Matthew Wood (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of Colorado
Jared Polis defeated Cary Kennedy, Michael Johnston, and Donna Lynne in the Democratic primary for Governor of Colorado on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jared Polis | 44.5 | 283,340 |
 | Cary Kennedy | 24.7 | 157,396 | |
 | Michael Johnston | 23.5 | 149,884 | |
 | Donna Lynne | 7.3 | 46,382 | |
| Total votes: 637,002 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Noel Ginsburg (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of Colorado
Walker Stapleton defeated Victor Mitchell, Greg Lopez, and Doug Robinson in the Republican primary for Governor of Colorado on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Walker Stapleton | 47.7 | 239,861 |
| Victor Mitchell | 30.1 | 151,585 | ||
 | Greg Lopez | 13.2 | 66,432 | |
 | Doug Robinson | 9.0 | 45,327 | |
| Total votes: 503,205 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Barry Farah (R)
Historical governor recalls
From 2003 to 2021, Ballotpedia tracked 118 gubernatorial recall efforts against 25 different governors. During that time, three recalls made the ballot and one governor was successfully recalled. Former California Gov. Gray Davis (D) was recalled by voters in 2003. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) was chosen as Davis' replacement. The only other governor to ever be successfully recalled was former North Dakota Gov. Lynn Frazier (R) in 1921. In 2012, Wisconsin voted to retain former Gov. Scott Walker (R) in the recall election. He received 53.1% of the vote. In 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) was retained by voters.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Colorado Pols, "Recall Polis People Ask for More Time to Fail," April 25, 2022
- ↑ This information was provided to Ballotpedia by an election's official on May 6, 2022.
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Recall Statement of Grounds and Cost Estimate," accessed March 1, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
