Peter Herzberg recall, Michigan House of Representatives (2025)

Peter Herzberg recall
	Officeholders
	Peter Herzberg (D)
	Recall status
	Underway
	Signature requirement
	Signatures equal to 25% of voters in the state House district in the last gubernatorial election
See also
	Recall overview; Political recall efforts, 2025; Recalls in Michigan; Michigan recall laws; State legislative recalls; Recall reports

The effort to recall Peter Herzberg (D) from the District 25 seat in the Michigan House of Representatives began on July 8, 2025. The Michigan Board of State Canvassers met on July 18, 2025, to hold a clarity and factual hearing on the recall petition's language. The board approved the petition for circulation on a 4-0 vote. The recall petition is valid for 180 days—or no later than January 14, 2026. To initiate a recall election, supporters of the recall effort must submit signatures of at least 25% of the votes cast in the state House district in the last governor’s race within a 60-day period.

Proponents of the recall effort criticize Herzberg for voting against House Bill 4170, which proposed reducing the state’s personal income tax rate from 4.25% to 4.05%.^[1]

Herzberg was initially elected to the chamber in a 2024 special election and secured re-election later that year in the regular general election with 59% of the vote.

Recall supporters

Keith Butkovich filed the recall petition against Herzberg on July 8, 2025. The recall petition lists the following reasons for recall:^[2]

“

Voting against House Bill 4170. This bill reduces the state personal income tax rate from 4.25% to 4.05%.^[3]

”

Recall opponents

As of July 18, 2025, Herzberg had not issued a response to the recall effort.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan

The recall petition remains valid for 180 days following its approval by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers at the clarity and factuality hearing. If the petition is appealed to the Court of Appeals, it is not valid for circulation until the court issues a decision or until 40 days have passed since the date of the appeal—whichever comes first.

Supporters must collect signatures equal to at least 25% of the votes cast in the most recent governor’s race within the state House district, and they must do so within a 60-day period to trigger a recall election. Any signatures dated more than 60 days before the petition is filed will not be counted.^[4]

Historical state legislative recalls

Ballotpedia tracked 186 recall efforts against 168 state lawmakers from 1913 to 2024. During that time, 40 recalls made the ballot and 22 state legislators were successfully recalled.^[5] A breakdown of the state legislative recall efforts by year is displayed in the chart below:

Michigan state legislators drew more recall petitions than any other from 1913 to 2024. Three of those 60 recall efforts have been successful. Wisconsin and California followed with 32 and 25 recall efforts, respectively. Wisconsin led all states with six legislators recalled, while California had five. The most recent successful recall effort against a state lawmaker was in 2018 with California state Senator Josh Newman (D). A breakdown of the various recall efforts is displayed in the chart below:

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

2024

Regular election

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 25

Incumbent Peter Herzberg defeated Josh Powell in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 25 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Peter Herzberg (D)	58.9	26,092
	Josh Powell (R)	41.1	18,183

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 44,275
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 25

Incumbent Peter Herzberg defeated Layla Taha, Lekisha Maxwell, Melandie Hines, and Salif Kourouma in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 25 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Peter Herzberg	53.5	4,981
		Layla Taha	31.6	2,944
		Lekisha Maxwell	8.1	758
		Melandie Hines	5.9	549
	Submit photo	Salif Kourouma	0.8	75

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,307
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 25

Josh Powell advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 25 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Josh Powell	100.0	3,491

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,491
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Special election