Sandusky Community School District recall, Michigan (2023)
| Sandusky Community School District recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Daniel Gerstenberger Jane Jacobson |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| November 7, 2023 |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2023 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
Three of the seven members of the Sandusky Community School District school board in Michigan were voted out of office in recall elections on November 7, 2023. School board members Jason Trepkowski, Daniel Gerstenberger, and Jane Jacobson were on the ballot. They were defeated by David Heberling, Katherine Tovar, and Kelly Trowhill, respectively.[1][2][3]
The recall effort began after the school board voted 4-3 on November 28, 2022, to adopt the Wolves as the school district's new mascot. In April 2022, the board voted to retire the school district's previous mascot, the Redskins.[4]
A previous effort to recall Trepkowski, Gerstenberger, and Jacobson was rejected in a clarity hearing in 2022. Click here to read more about that effort.
Ballotpedia covered recall elections against 35 officials on November 7, 2023. Click here to read more about the other recall elections on the ballot.
Recall vote
General election
Special general election for Sandusky Community Schools Board of Education, At-large
David Heberling defeated incumbent Jason Trepkowski in the special general election for Sandusky Community Schools Board of Education, At-large on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | David Heberling (Nonpartisan) | 53.0 | 814 | |
| Jason Trepkowski (Nonpartisan) | 46.8 | 719 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 2 | ||
| Total votes: 1,535 | |||
 = 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. | ||||
General election
Special general election for Sandusky Community Schools Board of Education, At-large
Katherine Tovar defeated incumbent Daniel Gerstenberger in the special general election for Sandusky Community Schools Board of Education, At-large on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Katherine Tovar (Nonpartisan) | 50.8 | 778 | |
| Daniel Gerstenberger (Nonpartisan) | 49.1 | 752 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 3 | ||
| Total votes: 1,533 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
General election
Special general election for Sandusky Community Schools Board of Education, At-large
Kelly Trowhill defeated incumbent Jane Jacobson in the special general election for Sandusky Community Schools Board of Education, At-large on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Kelly Trowhill (Nonpartisan) | 57.2 | 872 | |
| Jane Jacobson (Nonpartisan) | 42.4 | 646 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 6 | ||
| Total votes: 1,524 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Recall supporters
The recall petitions were filed by the group Save the Redskins Logo. The reason for recall listed on the petitions was a “failure to represent and listen to the voice of the public to retain the Redskin logo and voted to change the logo to the wolves on November 28, 2022.”[5]
“This is more than just the loss of the name Redskins and the logo of Chief Two Guns White Calf,” Rick Spiegel, member of Save the Redskins Logo, said. "It is how the school board went about retiring the logo through lies, dishonesty, deceit and cover up. The board ignored the students’ survey results, as well as the voters’ survey results in the school district, not to mention the pleas from Native Americans to keep the name Redskins and the logo of Chief Two Guns White Calf.”[6]
Recall opponents
At the clarity hearing on the recall petitions, Gerstenberger said the reason for recall listed on the petitions could be seen as opinion.[4]
Trepkowski said there were no lies or deceit involved with the name change. He also said:[6]
| “ | We had eight meetings before we changed this name, and it was all out in the open. This group didn’t come and these people didn’t come. There is a lot of good people on that board and they don’t hide anything. They’re not out to screw the people over. This board is out for the best interest of the school district and the kids in this district.[7] | ” |
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan
To get a recall on the ballot in Michigan, recall supporters must collect signatures equal in number to 25% of voters in the jurisdiction in the last gubernatorial election. They have 60 days between the collection of the first signature and the collection of the last signature on the petition. Recall petitions are eligible to collect signatures for 180 days.[8]
The Sanilac County Election Commission approved the recall petitions for circulation on January 13, 2023. Trepkowski, Gerstenberger, and Jacobson had until January 23, 2023, to appeal the election commission's approval of the recall language.[5] Board members filed an appeal with the Sanilac County Circuit Court. Judge Amy Gierhart upheld the commission's decision on January 30, 2023, allowing the petitions to be circulated.[6] Recall supporters had to collect 749 signatures per board member to put the recalls on the ballot.[1]
Recall supporters filed the petitions on April 3, 2023. They filed approximately 1,009 signatures against Trepkowski, 1,029 signatures against Jacobson, and 1,008 signatures against Gerstenberger. The county had 22 days to verify the signatures and an additional 13 days to process any challenges.[9] The county verified 886 signatures against Trepkowski, 860 against Gerstenberger, and 897 against Jacobson, which was enough to put the recalls on the ballot. The filing deadline for candidates to run against the board members in the recall elections was May 8, 2023.[1]
2023 recall efforts
- See also: School board recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 48 school board recall efforts against 97 board members in 2023. Sixteen of those board members faced recall elections. The recall elections were held on January 10, 2023, August 1, 2023, August 8, 2023, August 29, 2023, November 7, 2023, and December 12, 2023. The school board recall success rate was 13.4%.
The chart below details the status of 2023 recall efforts by individual school board member.
See also
- Sandusky Community School District, Michigan
- Sandusky Community School District recall, Michigan (2022)
- Recall campaigns in Michigan
- Political recall efforts, 2023
- School board recalls
- States that allow school board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Sanilac County News, "Candidates file for Sandusky Board of Education recall election," May 10, 2023
- ↑ Sandusky Community Schools, "Board Members & Links," accessed January 19, 2023
- ↑ Sanilac County News, "Voters recall Sandusky school board members; millage passes," November 7, 2023
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sanilac Broadcasting Company, "Second attempt at Sandusky School Board recall petitions unanimously approved by election commission," January 13, 2023
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 WNEM 5, "Petition language approved to recall Sandusky school board members following mascot change controversy," January 17, 2023
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Sanilac County News, "Sandusky recall petitions receive OK," February 8, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Recall of Local Officials," accessed July 27, 2021
- ↑ Sanilac County News, "Sandusky recall signatures filed with clerk," April 12, 2023
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