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Justine Wadsack recall, Arizona State Senate (2023)
| Sen. Justine Wadsack recall |
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| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2023 Recalls in Arizona Arizona recall laws State legislative recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Justine Wadsack, a member of the Republican Party, from her elected position representing District 17 in the Arizona State Senate was launched on May 8, 2023. Supporters of the recall had 120 days—or no later than September 5, 2023—to collect 30,981 signatures to require a recall election.[1] Supporters failed to submit the necessary amount of signatures by the deadline to force a recall election.[2]
Proponents of the recall effort criticized Wadsack over her sponsorship of four bills. The four bills were SB 1435, SB 1700, SB 1698, and SB 1413. The legislation would of banned books on gender issues, made it a felony to take children to a drag show, ended the State Bar requirement for Arizona lawyers (the Supreme Court would have been in charge of licensing attorneys), and homeless issues.[3][4]
Wadsack was elected to the state Senate in 2022. She defeated Mike Nickerson (D) in the general election with 51% of the vote.
Recall supporters
The recall effort was filed by Rolande Baker in May 2023. The petition listed the following reasons for recall:[1]
| “ | Senator Wadsack took office 1/9/23, winning by only 2,789, has since sponsored bills that attack marginalized communities within Legislative District 17. Whether it be SB1413- criminalizing our most vulnerable houseless neighbors with no solutions or her attack on our State Constitution, and how we govern ourselves; or SB1700, allowing anyone opposed to book/s in grades K-12, file an objection against the book/s with the Department of Education; or SB1435, undermining the Arizona Bar Association, making the Arizona Supreme Court the final decision-makers of lawyers; or HB2456- shortening the school accreditation for the Arizona School for the Deaf & Blind from 8 years to 4 years; increasing administrative and regulatory burdens without credible cause after 100+ years of operation. She is amplifying hysteria about drag performances, SB1698, eliminating the words "drag show" but with the same intent to declare them as unlawful exposure to children carrying possible felony charges for parents. We cannot wait until 2024, Senator Wadsack must be recalled for the sake of LD17 and the people of Arizona because of known draconian bills and those possibly to come. Join us in acquiring 30,981 signatures for her removal.[5] | ” |
Recall opponents
After the recall was announced, Wadsack told Capitol Media Services that she was not worried about the recall effort. She said, "Frankly, this recall effort, and the people behind it, don’t have any credibility. I’m not concerned to the slightest."[6]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Arizona
A recall can be filed against any public officer on any grounds. The recall may not be filed until after the elected official has been in office in his or her first term for at least six months. This six-month limit does not apply to state legislators. In the case of state legislators, a recall petition may commence five days after the start of their first legislative session after their election. In the case of other elected officials, there is no six-month limit for subsequent terms in office.[7]
A recall petition must be filed at the office in which the officer being recalled files for nomination. The petition must contain a general statement explaining the recall, not exceeding 200 words. This petition must be signed by the sponsors who swear an oath that all signatures collected will be valid signatures.
The number of signatures required to qualify for a recall attempt for the ballot is 25% of the number of votes cast in the last election for that office. Recall supporters have 120 days to collect signatures.
If enough signatures are gathered, a recall election will be held. All qualified candidates can run against the incumbent. Whoever gets the most votes wins the office. If the incumbent wins he/she remains in office and no other recall can occur during that term unless the proponents pay the cost of the prior recall election.
Election history
2022
See also: Arizona State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Arizona State Senate District 17
Justine Wadsack defeated Mike Nickerson in the general election for Arizona State Senate District 17 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Justine Wadsack (R) | 51.2 | 63,501 |
 | Mike Nickerson (D)  | 48.8 | 60,420 | |
| Total votes: 123,921 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Arizona State Senate District 17
Mike Nickerson advanced from the Democratic primary for Arizona State Senate District 17 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mike Nickerson | 100.0 | 29,795 |
| Total votes: 29,795 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Arizona State Senate District 17
Justine Wadsack defeated incumbent Vince Leach and Robert Barr in the Republican primary for Arizona State Senate District 17 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Justine Wadsack | 40.9 | 16,329 |
 | Vince Leach | 35.5 | 14,161 | |
 | Robert Barr | 23.6 | 9,407 | |
| Total votes: 39,897 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Historical state legislative recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 157 recall efforts against 148 state lawmakers from 1913 to 2022. During that time, 39 recalls made the ballot and 22 state legislators were successfully recalled.[8]
Michigan led the way with 37 state legislative recall efforts from 1913 to 2022. Of those 37 recall efforts, three were successful. Wisconsin followed with 30 state legislative recall efforts. Six of those recalls were successful.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Arizona Secretary of State, "Initiative, Referendum and Recall Applications," accessed May 22, 2023
- ↑ Arizona Capital Times, "Wadsack recall effort fails," September 5, 2023
- ↑ Phoenix New Times, "Sack Wadsack? Recall effort targets drag-hating, book-banning state senator," May 18, 2023
- ↑ The Recall Elections Blog, "Arizona: Petitions taken out against State Senator," May 19, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Herald/Review Media, "Recall effort started to unseat state senator," May 13, 2023
- ↑ Arizona Daily Star, "Dupnik recall effort gets another non-Pima boost - this time from Idaho," February 6, 2011
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Recall of State Officials," accessed August 13, 2021
