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John Whitmire recall, Houston, Texas (2025)
| John Whitmire recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2025 Recalls in Texas Texas recall laws Mayoral recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Mayor John Whitmire is underway in Houston, Texas. Organizers would need to submit about 63,000 valid signatures in 30 days to put the recall on the ballot.[1]
Whitmire was elected as mayor of Houston in 2023, winning with 64 percent of the vote in the general election runoff.
Recall supporters
The recall effort is organized by a group called Recall for Houston. The group's website lists the following as grounds for recalling Whitmire.[2]
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The full text of the recall petition can be found below. Scroll in the box to read the full grounds for recall.
Recall opponents
A spokesperson for Whitmire responded to the recall effort, saying, "Mayor Whitmire is not distracted. He continues to focus on the job Houstonians elected him to do."[4]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Texas
No specific grounds are required for recall in Texas. The recall of local officials in Texas is governed by local charters. Because of this, recall laws regarding signature requirements and circulation time vary by locality.[5]
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.
Election history
2023
General runoff election
General runoff election for Mayor of Houston
John Whitmire defeated Sheila Jackson Lee in the general runoff election for Mayor of Houston on December 9, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | John Whitmire (Nonpartisan) | 64.4 | 129,809 |
 | Sheila Jackson Lee (Nonpartisan) | 35.6 | 71,719 | |
| Total votes: 201,528 | |||
 = 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. | ||||
General election
General election for Mayor of Houston
The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Houston on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Whitmire (Nonpartisan) | 42.5 | 107,411 |
| ✔ | | Sheila Jackson Lee (Nonpartisan) | 35.6 | 90,098 |
| Gilbert Garcia (Nonpartisan) | 7.2 | 18,220 | ||
 | Jack Christie (Nonpartisan) | 6.9 | 17,364 | |
 | Lee Kaplan (Nonpartisan) | 2.6 | 6,645 | |
 | Robert Gallegos (Nonpartisan) | 1.1 | 2,680 | |
| M.J. Khan (Nonpartisan) | 1.0 | 2,478 | ||
 | Annie Garcia (Nonpartisan) | 0.8 | 1,972 | |
 | Julian Martinez (Nonpartisan) | 0.7 | 1,813 | |
 | Roy Vasquez (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 1,083 | |
 | M. Griffin (Nonpartisan) | 0.3 | 674 | |
 | Kathy Lee Tatum (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 532 | |
| David Lowy (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 368 | ||
| Chanel Mbala (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 356 | ||
 | Naoufal Houjami (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 352 | |
 | Gaylon Caldwell (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 331 | |
| B. Ivy (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 287 | ||
 | Robin Williams (Nonpartisan) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 101 | |
| Total votes: 252,765 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
See also
- Ballotpedia's Recall Report
- Houston, Texas
- Recall campaigns in Texas
- Political recall efforts, 2025
- Mayoral recalls
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Government website of Houston, Texas
- Recall for Houston campaign website
- Recall for Houston on X
- Recall for Houston on Facebook
Footnotes
- ↑ ABC13, "Group working to recall Houston mayor says it will start collecting signatures next week," September 25, 2025
- ↑ Recall for Houston, "Petition for the Recall of John Whitmire, City of Houston Mayor," accessed October 20, 2025
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Houston Public Media, "Uphill effort to recall Whitmire kicks off with single canvasser, misspelled signature forms," October 7, 2025
- ↑ San Antonio Express-News, "Unusual ballot features Fredericksburg councilman as recall target and mayoral contender," May 3, 2012
