Brad Little recall, Governor of Idaho (2020)

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

An effort to recall Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) was launched on May 28, 2020. Supporters of the recall had up to 75 days—or no later than August 11, 2020—to collect the 183,523 signatures needed to require a recall election. No signatures were turned in by the deadline.

Recall supporters criticized Little over his response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Little was elected as Idaho's governor in 2018 with 59.8% of the vote. Butch Otter (R) served as governor from 2007 to 2019.

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

Recall supporters

The recall effort was organized by a group called Idahoans for the Recall of Governor Brad Little. The petition was approved by the Idaho Secretary of State on May 28, 2020. According to the website of the recall effort, Little was targeted for recall for the following reasons:

“	Governor Little abused the power of his office and the trust of the people of the State of Idaho. He no longer has the consent of the people to be governed, as he has made us subjects and himself a ruler. His actions speak for themselves: Divided citizens into one of two camps: essential or expendable. Used antiquated statutes that gave him full power over the state as soon as the legislature adjourned. Proclaimed an extreme emergency when one did not, in fact, exist. Refused to adjust accordingly as the situation proved to be less dire than predicted. Refused to call the legislature back for a special session. Striped parental rights away with his March 23rd executive order. Demanded compliance to irrational mandates. Called us disrespectful for going back to work without his permission. Closed the polls. Quarantined healthy people. Closed our houses of worship & community. Denied people the right to work. Destroyed small businesses and therefore the families who owned them. Abused police powers by enforcement of his arbitrary and capricious phased re-opening. Abused administrative oversight against businesses with occupational licenses.	”
—Brad Little Recall Petition Language

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Idaho

As of April 2021, the number of valid signatures required to recall the governor was 20% of electors who were eligible to vote at the last general election held to elect the governor. Signatures for the recall petition had to be turned in within 75 days of the recall petition being approved for circulation.

For the recall against Little to be placed on the ballot, supporters of the recall needed to gather 183,523 signatures. Recall supporters had until August 11, 2020, to turn in signatures for the recall to go forward. No signatures were submitted by the August 11 deadline.

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: Idaho gubernatorial election, 2018

General election

General election for Governor of Idaho

Brad Little defeated Paulette Jordan, Bev Boeck, and Walter Bayes in the general election for Governor of Idaho on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brad Little (R)	59.8	361,661
		Paulette Jordan (D)	38.2	231,081
		Bev Boeck (L)	1.1	6,551
		Walter Bayes (Constitution Party)	1.0	5,787
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	51

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 605,131
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Idaho

Paulette Jordan defeated A.J. Balukoff and Peter Dill in the Democratic primary for Governor of Idaho on May 15, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Paulette Jordan	58.4	38,505
		A.J. Balukoff	40.1	26,423
		Peter Dill	1.4	954

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 65,882
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Idaho

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

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brad Little	37.3	72,548
		Raúl Labrador	32.6	63,478
		Tommy Ahlquist	26.2	51,008
		Lisa Marie	1.7	3,397
		Steven Pankey	1.4	2,704
		Harley Brown	0.4	874
		Ben Cannady	0.3	527

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 194,536
= 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.

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 Idaho
• Political recall efforts, 2020
• Gubernatorial recalls

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of Gov. Little
• Recall website
• Recall Facebook page