Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Karen Bass recall, Los Angeles, California (2025)
| Karen Bass recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2025 Recalls in California California recall laws Mayoral recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Mayor Karen Bass did not go to a vote in Los Angeles, California. A notice of intention to recall was filed with the city clerk on March 18, 2025.[1] The deadline for organizers to submit signatures to place the recall on the November 2025 ballot passed on August 4, 2025.
Recall supporters
The recall effort was organized by the Recall Karen Bass Committee following the Palisades Fire in January 2025.[2]
The official recall website listed the following as additional grounds for recalling Bass:[2]
| “ |
|
” |
Nicole Shanahan, who was listed as a major funder of the committee, said in a statement announcing the recall effort that "Los Angeles has endured enough. Once a city of hope, it’s now overrun with crime, chaos, and suffering. Today, we begin the effort to revive the City of Angels—for the people."[2][4]
Recall opponents
Bass' political strategist, Douglas Herman, called the recall "nothing more than another extreme right-wing political stunt designed to divide Los Angeles when we need to move forward."[5]
Rick Caruso, who ran against Bass in the 2022 mayoral general election, said that the recall against Bass "is not a good idea. This is a time when Los Angeles needs unity, not costly and expensive political distractions. We must rebuild our communities, get people back into their homes, and open businesses that have been closed or lost. That must be our total focus. There is a time and place for politics, but it is not now."[6]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in California
No specific grounds are required for recall in California. The recall process starts with a notice of intention to recall. The notice must be served to the officer whose recall is being sought as well as published in a newspaper of general circulation. The notice must then be filed with the relevant election office. Once the notice has been deemed sufficient by the election office, a petition must also be filed and approved by the election office. Once the petition is approved, it can be circulated. To get a recall on the ballot, supporters must collect signatures from registered voters in the jurisdiction. The number of signatures required is between 10% and 30% of registered voters in the jurisdiction, depending on the size of the jurisdiction. Jurisdictions with 1,000 registered voters or fewer require 30%, and jurisdictions with 100,000 or more registered voters require 10%. Charter cities can also set their own signature threshold. The amount of time allowed for the circulation of recall petitions also varies by the number of registered voters in a jurisdiction, between 40 and 160 days. Jurisdictions with fewer than 1,000 registered voters allow 40 days, and jurisdictions with more than 50,000 registered voters allow 160 days.[7]
Recall organizers served Bass a notice of intention to recall on March 7, 2025. The notice was filed with the Los Angeles City Clerk on March 18, 2025.[1] Petitioners needed to submit about 330,000 valid signatures to put the recall on the ballot.[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
2022
See also: Mayoral election in Los Angeles, California (2022)
General election
General election for Mayor of Los Angeles
Karen Bass defeated Rick J. Caruso in the general election for Mayor of Los Angeles on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Karen Bass (Nonpartisan) | 54.8 | 509,944 |
 | Rick J. Caruso (Nonpartisan) | 45.2 | 420,030 | |
| Total votes: 929,974 | |||
 = 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. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Los Angeles
The following candidates ran in the primary for Mayor of Los Angeles on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Karen Bass (Nonpartisan) | 43.1 | 278,511 |
| ✔ | | Rick J. Caruso (Nonpartisan) | 36.0 | 232,490 |
 | Kevin de León (Nonpartisan) | 7.8 | 50,372 | |
 | Gina Viola (Nonpartisan) | 6.9 | 44,341 | |
 | Mike Feuer (Nonpartisan) (Unofficially withdrew) | 1.9 | 12,087 | |
 | Andrew Kim (Nonpartisan) | 1.5 | 9,405 | |
 | Alex Gruenenfelder (Nonpartisan) | 1.0 | 6,153 | |
 | Joe Buscaino (Nonpartisan) (Unofficially withdrew) | 0.7 | 4,485 | |
 | Craig E. Greiwe (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 2,439 | |
 | Mel Wilson (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 2,336 | |
 | Ramit Varma (Nonpartisan) | 0.3 | 1,916 | |
| John Jackson (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 1,511 | ||
| Total votes: 646,046 | |||
| = 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
- Los Angeles, California
- Recall campaigns in California
- Political recall efforts, 2025
- Mayoral recalls
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Government website of Los Angeles, California
- Official recall website
- Recall Bass Now on X
- Recall Bass Now on Facebook
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Los Angeles City Clerk, "Petition Status," accessed March 27, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Recall Bass Now, "Get Informed," accessed March 27, 2025
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ X "Nicole Shanahan on March 4, 2025," accessed March 27, 2025
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 KTLA, "Effort underway to recall Los Angeles Mayor Bass over handling of Palisades Fire," March 4, 2025
- ↑ X "Rick Caruso on March 18, 2025," accessed March 27, 2025
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Recall Procedures Guide 2023," accessed October 16, 2023
