Keith Bell and Kimberley Yancy recall, LaMarque, Texas (2022)

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LaMarque mayor and city council recall
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Officeholders
Keith Bell
Kimberley Yancy
Recall status
Recall defeated (Bell)
Did not go to a vote (Yancy)
Recall election date
November 8, 2022
Signature requirement
51% of the total number of votes cast in the last election for mayor or council member
See also
Recall overview
Political recall efforts, 2022
Recalls in Texas
Texas recall laws
Mayoral recalls
City council recalls
Recall reports

An effort in La Marque, Texas, to recall Mayor Keith Bell was initiated in July 2022.[1] Recall organizers submitted enough signatures to put the recall on the ballot. The recall election took place on November 8, 2022, and Bell retained his seat.[2]

After starting the recall against Bell, organizers later expanded the campaign to include District A City Councilwoman Kimberley Yancy. The recall effort against Yancy did not qualify for the ballot after organizers submitted fewer than the required number of signatures.[3][4]

Bell was elected as mayor of La Marque in May 2021.[5] Yancy was elected councilwoman in June 2021.[6]

Recall vote

Keith Bell recall, 2022

Keith Bell won the Mayor of La Marque recall election on November 8, 2022.

Recall
 Vote
%
Votes
Yes
 
45.0
 
2,088
No
 
55.0
 
2,548
Total Votes
4,636


Recall supporters

Resident Joseph Lowry initiated the recall effort against both Bell and Yancy. Lowry alleged that Bell had "asked me to ... set up business accounts in his wife’s name and his daughter’s name to go after bond money that was coming into the city." Lowry said that Bell was "not honest with the public" and that he "screams transparency, but he’s not transparent at all."[7]

Lowry alleged that Yancy had created "division in the community since her election."[4]

Recall opponents

Bell denied Lowry's accusations, saying, "There’s no proof of these allegations made against me. ... Everybody didn’t like the hard decisions that had to be made to move our city forward, and sometimes when that happens, people get vindictive and retaliatory." Bell added, "At that moment, he [Lowry] has a personal experience with a sitting mayor that says clearly that the sitting mayor is corrupt, but he doesn’t record it. He doesn’t advance the conversations. He doesn’t go get the bank accounts. He doesn’t find his obligation in any way to bring any evidence. ... There is no proof of these accusations. There will never be proof of these accusations because it is untrue.”[7]

Yancy gave the following comment on the recall campaign to KPRC 2 News: "Our election was a true election, the people spoke and we need to respect that. Recall efforts should not be a form of harassment. ... What did not happen on January 6, do it in your local government, that’s what’s happening with this instance."[4]

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Texas

Recall of local elected officials in Texas is available only in political subdivisions that have their own charter, and only if their charter specifically authorizes recall of the local elected officials.

Article V Section 5 of the La Marque Code of Ordinances gives petitioners 30 days to gather valid signatures equal to 51% of the total number of votes cast in the last citywide contested election in which the mayor or council member was elected.

The recall effort against Yancy did not qualify for the ballot after the Galveston County Voter Registrar’s Office validated 115 signatures out of the 237 signatures that organizers had submitted. For a recall election to have been scheduled, organizers needed to have collected 144 valid signatures.[3]

See also

External links

Footnotes