James Holley recall, Portsmouth, Virginia, 2010
| Portsmouth Mayor recall |
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| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| July 13, 2010 |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2010 Recalls in Virginia Virginia recall laws Mayoral recalls Recall reports |
An effort in Portsmouth, Virginia, to recall Mayor James Holley was initiated in 2010. Recall organizers submitted enough signatures to put the recall election on the ballot. The recall election took place on July 13, 2010, and Holley was removed from office as a result of the election. Holley was previously recalled as mayor in 1987.[1] According to The Virginian-Pilot, Holley was the first official in U.S. history to be recalled twice.[2][3][4]
Recall vote
The recall election was held on July 13, 2010.
- Votes to recall Holley: 10,721 (68%)
- Votes to keep Holley: 5,154 (32%)
Background
The recall campaign began after the Virginian-Pilot reported that the council fined Holley $2,500 for allegedly mistreating assistants and asking them to perform personal tasks for him. In one instance, the mayor's personal assistant Lorraine Stokes said that the mayor had asked her to perform approximately 44 personal tasks. Responding to the accusations, Holley said it was "probably a bad, bad decision that I made. I've been forgiven before, so I look forward to your forgiveness again."
On August 12, 2009, six city council members called for Holley to retire. Holley, however, responded by saying, "I'm a statesman. I'll be here when the place goes down - I'm going down with it. When it goes up, I'm going up with it. All of that is predicated upon whether you want to keep me or not."[1]
In 1987, Holley became the first mayor in Virginia to be recalled.[1] He was serving his fifth term as mayor before being removed from office in 2010.[5]
Joe Wright, a civic leader who actively opposed the 1987 recall said that he would help Holley again in the 2010 effort if asked. Wright also said, "I'm not going to say he's by himself, but the people are not as fired up about it because most of the people really think it's time for him to step down."[6]
Path to the ballot
- September 9, 2009: Organizers announce they collected 500 signatures.[7]
- November 2009: Recall supporters say they had more than 2,415 signatures.[8][5][5]
- December 22, 2009: The group circulating the petitions had gathered 6,630 signatures, 38 signatures short of the required 6,668 needed to force a recall election.[9]
- On February 12, the recall campaign announced that it had more than 8,200 signatures in hand.[10]
- In early May, the recall group submitted over 9,000 signatures to election officials to force a recall vote.[11]
- On May 10, Holley filed a formal challenge of the signatures. He questioned whether the signatures on the petitions were genuine and whether those who signed the petition were qualified to sign it.[12]
- On May 27, a sufficiency hearing took place to determine whether enough valid signatures were submitted to force a recall election.[13] The judge found that sufficient signatures had been submitted and ordered Holley to resign or face a recall election.[14]
- June 4: The deadline by which Holley had to resign or face a recall election. Holley did not resign, thus setting up a recall election.[15]
- July 13: Date that recall election took place.[16]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Virginian-Pilot, "Portsmouth mayor apologizes; council seeks resignation," August 12, 2009
- ↑ Hampton Roads, "Voters recall Portsmouth mayor James Holley," July 14, 2010
- ↑ Hampton Roads, "Portsmouth City Council works around a subdued Holley," June 20, 2010
- ↑ Washington Examiner, "Voters oust Portsmouth mayor again," July 14, 2010
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 The Virginian-Pilot, "Residents begin recall petition to oust Portsmouth mayor," September 1, 2009
- ↑ HamptonRoads.Com, "Holley appears to be on his own this time around," May 16, 2010
- ↑ WVEC, "About 500 signatures collected on Holley recall petitions," September 8, 2009 (dead link)
- ↑ The Virginian-Pilot, "Push to recall Portsmouth mayor gains momentum," November 4, 2009
- ↑ wvec.com, "Deadline set for Portsmouth mayor recall," December 22, 2009
- ↑ Virginian-Pilot, "Effort to recall Mayor Holley nears decisive stage," February 12, 2010
- ↑ Associated Press, "Residents seek recall of Portsmouth mayor, VA" (dead link)
- ↑ HamptonRoads.Com, "Mayor Holley challenges Portsmouth recall effort," May 12, 2010
- ↑ HamptonRoads.Com, "Time ticking for Holley to recall," May 13, 2010
- ↑ Times Dispatch, "News Near Your," May 28, 2010 (dead link)
- ↑ Hampton Roads, "Portsmouth mayor doesn't resign, setting up recall election," June 5, 2010
- ↑ WAVY.com, "Legal questions surface," June 2, 2010
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