Kate Brown recall, Governor of Oregon (2020)

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  • 2018 mid-year analysis
  • 2017 year-end analysis
  • 2017 mid-year analysis
  • 2016 year-end analysis
  • 2016 mid-year analysis

Oregon Governor recall
Officeholders
Kate Brown
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2020 Recalls in Oregon Oregon recall laws State executive recalls Recall reports

Three efforts to recall Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) were launched in 2020. Supporters of each recall had up to 90 days to collect the 280,050 signatures needed to require a recall election.

• The first recall petition was submitted by Kurt Saindon on April 30, 2020. Signatures for the recall were due on July 29, 2020. No signatures were submitted by the deadline. Read more on that recall effort here.
• The second recall petition was submitted by Kelsey Massey on May 2, 2020. Signatures for the recall were due on July 31, 2020. No signatures were submitted by the deadline. Read more on that recall effort here.
• The third recall petition was submitted by Bill Currier on June 2, 2020. Signatures for the recall were due on August 31, 2020. Currier announced on August 31 that the recall did not collect enough signatures to trigger a recall election. Read more on that recall effort here.

Brown was appointed as Oregon's governor in 2015. She won a special election for the office in 2016 with 50.70% of the vote. She was re-elected to the position in 2018 with 50.1% of the vote.

To read about other recall efforts related to the coronavirus and government responses to the pandemic, click here.

Recall supporters

First recall effort (Kurt Saindon; ended)

The recall petition was filed on April 30, 2020, by Kurt Saindon. No signatures were submitted by the July 29, 2020, deadline. The petition listed the following reasons for recall:

“	In our opinion Governor Brown has disregarded the will of the voters as follows: 1. Voters weren't given the opportunity to vote on the Gross Sales Tax Receipt 2. Overturned the will of the voters by granting drivers licenses to illegals 3. Threat of mandatory vaccine law and forced medical treatments 4. Declaring Oregon a Sanctuary State	”
—Kate Brown Recall Petition Language

Second recall effort (Kelsey Massey; ended)

The recall petition was filed on May 2, 2020, by Kelsey Massey. No signatures were submitted by the July 31, 2020, deadline. The petition listed the following reasons for recall:

“	Oregonians deserve a Governor that honors the will of the voters and works for the good of all Oregon citizens. Kate Brown has: Overturned the will of the voters by; Granting drivers licenses to illegal aliens. Reversing ballot measures that limited taxation. Denied Oregonians; Protection from ANTIFA. The right to fully protect themselves IAW 2nd Amendment rights guaranteed by our Constitution. Oregonians of jobs and Oregon businesses to operate, under a false environmental policy. Continued attempts to deny Oregonians their right of medical and religious freedoms. Oregon foster children protection. Oregon has become a central hub for human trafficking, which remains unaddressed. Forced Oregonians into a sanctuary State in violation of Federal Laws.. Failed to address the PERS crisis that threatens to bankrupt Oregon, which created a financial burden on all Oregonians; neither fair nor reasonable, violating the public trust. Used taxpayer dollars to fund multi-million dollar, politically motivated, frivolous lawsuits. Continued abuse of the "Emergency Clause" inappropriately on non-emergency legislation, ignoring voters while denying them a voice in legislation they oppose. Threats and actions to usurp legislative power with executive orders, notably to implement Cap & Trade with no measurements, projections or plans.	”
—Kate Brown Recall Petition Language

Third recall effort (Bill Currier; ended)

The recall petition was filed by Bill Currier, chairman of the Oregon Republican Party, on June 2, 2020. He filed an unsuccessful recall effort against Gov. Brown in 2019. The petition listed the following reasons for recall:

“	The people of Oregon deserve and expect a Governor that honors the will of the voters and works for the good of all citizens, not just special interests and politically motivated agendas. Governor Brown has abused the office of governor and failed the people of Oregon in the following ways: Used COVID-19 to unlawfully restrict our freedoms, causing needless economic ruin Denied citizens the right to fully protect themselves as guaranteed by the Constitution Denied citizens protection from the growing domestic terrorist threat known as Antifa Attempted to deprive Oregon's working families of jobs using faulty environmental policy Attempted to deprive Oregon's families their right of medical and religious freedom Failed to address the PERS crisis that threatens the economy and government retirees Failed to protect Oregon's foster children and failed to cooperate with investigations Overturned the will of the voters by granting Oregon driver's licenses to illegal aliens Overturned the will of the voters by reversing ballot measures that limited taxation Squandered taxpayer money to launch frivolous million-dollar, politically driven lawsuits Repeatedly supported the use of the “emergency clause” on non-emergency legislation (effectively denying the voters of Oregon a voice on legislation they oppose)	”
—Kate Brown Recall Petition Language

On August 31, 2020, Currier announced that the recall did not receive enough signatures to make the ballot. He said, "To our great disappointment, the Stop The Abuse - Recall Kate Brown campaign has fallen 2,796 signatures or less than 1% short. It is the highest bar for petition signature gathering in our state’s Constitution and has definitely been an uphill struggle during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with other obstacles."

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Oregon

The Oregon Secretary of State says this about the recall process in the state:

1. The first step for a recall petition against a state public officer is the filing of a prospective recall petition with the Secretary of State, Elections Division. The chief petitioner for a recall must be a registered voter in the district from which the public officer is elected or appointed.

2. After receiving a sufficient prospective petition for a recall of a state public officer and no later than 3 business days after the prospective petition is filed, the Elections Division provides the chief petitioner with official templates of the cover and signature sheets for the petition. Once the chief petitioner has received the official templates, they may begin the approval for circulation process. The cover and signature sheets must be approved in writing by the Elections Division before the chief petitioner may begin circulating the recall petition.

3. Using the official templates provided by the Elections Division, the chief petitioner prepares and submits cover and signature sheets exactly as intended to circulate, including weight, style and color of paper with the cover sheet (SEL 350) copied on the reverse side of the signature sheet (SEL 351). Only a chief petitioner or authorized agents may submit cover and signature sheets for approval.

The chief petitioner must turn in the required number of signatures no later than 90 days after the prospective petition has been filed.

Recalls related to the coronavirus

See also: Recalls related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and government responses to the pandemic

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

See also: Oregon gubernatorial election, 2018

General election

General election for Governor of Oregon

The following candidates ran in the general election for Governor of Oregon on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kate Brown (D)	50.1	934,498
		Knute Buehler (R)	43.7	814,988
		Patrick Starnes (Independent Party of Oregon)	2.9	53,392
		Nick Chen (L)	1.5	28,927
		Aaron Auer (Constitution Party)	1.1	21,145
		Chris Henry (Progressive Party)	0.6	11,013
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	3,034

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,866,997 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Alex DiBlasi (G)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Oregon

Incumbent Kate Brown defeated Ed Jones and Candace Neville in the Democratic primary for Governor of Oregon on May 15, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kate Brown	83.8	324,451
	Submit photo	Ed Jones	8.6	33,464
		Candace Neville	7.5	29,110

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 387,025
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Oregon

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Oregon on May 15, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Knute Buehler	46.1	144,103
		Sam Carpenter	29.0	90,572
		Greg Wooldridge	20.2	63,049
		Bruce Cuff	1.6	4,857
		Jeff Smith	1.5	4,691
		Dave Stauffer	0.7	2,096
	Submit photo	Jonathan Edwards	0.3	861
	Submit photo	Keenan Bohach	0.3	787
	Submit photo	Brett Hyland	0.2	755
	Submit photo	Jack Tacy	0.2	512

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 312,283
= 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.
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Independent Party of Oregon primary election

Independent Party of Oregon primary for Governor of Oregon

Patrick Starnes defeated Skye Allen and Dan Pistoresi in the Independent Party of Oregon primary for Governor of Oregon on May 15, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Patrick Starnes	58.7	6,030
	Submit photo	Skye Allen	23.4	2,405
	Submit photo	Dan Pistoresi	18.0	1,846

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 10,281
= 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

• Shawn Liebling (Independent Party of Oregon)

2016

See also: Oregon gubernatorial special election, 2016

Oregon held a special election for governor in 2016 to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of former Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) in February 2015. Brown, who succeeded from the secretary of state's office to the governorship after Kitzhaber stepped down, ran to retain the position for the two years left of Kitzhaber's term as both a Democratic and Working Families Party candidate.

Incumbent Kate Brown defeated Bud Pierce, Cliff Thomason, James Foster, and Aaron Auer in the Oregon governor election.

Oregon Governor, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic/Working Families	Kate Brown Incumbent	50.70%	985,027
	Republican	Bud Pierce	43.53%	845,609
	Independent Party of Oregon	Cliff Thomason	2.44%	47,481
	Libertarian	James Foster	2.33%	45,191
	Constitution Party	Aaron Auer	1.00%	19,400
Total Votes				1,942,708
Source: Oregon Secretary of State

Historical governor recalls

From 2003 to 2019, Ballotpedia tracked 58 gubernatorial recall efforts against 16 different governors. During that time, two 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.

See also

• Recall campaigns in Oregon
• Political recall efforts, 2020
• Gubernatorial recalls
• Kate Brown recall, Governor of Oregon (2019)

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of Gov. Brown
• Kelsey Massey - Kate Brown recall Facbook group (Recall 2)
• Stop The Abuse - Recall Kate Brown website (Recall 3)

Footnotes

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