Greyson Beaubien/Houston Public Media
Ethan Hale (right) collects signatures for a petition to recall Houston Mayor John Whitmire on Oct. 6, 2025.
A much-hyped effort to recall Houston Mayor John Whitmire from office — the subject of multiple news stories and social media posts over the past year — fell significantly short of its goal as the 30-day window closed this week.
According to organizer Ethan Hale, canvassers collecting signatures returned “just over 2,000 or so — something like that.”
In order to place the recall question before voters, the campaign needed to collect more than 63,000 signatures in 30 days.
The campaign raised less than $5,000 of a $100,000 goal and relied heavily on volunteers.
“I think we knew the odds were not exactly in our favor, and I think we were more so hoping more of our volunteers would turn out, but didn’t really happen that way,” Hale told Houston Public Media.
RELATED: Uphill effort to recall Whitmire kicks off with single canvasser, misspelled signature forms
Hale and his fellow organizers used harsh language in their attacks on Whitmire, branding him a “fascist” and lambasting a range of his policy positions. In particular, they criticized the administration’s increased budget for the police department as most other departments saw cuts, and they opposed his more car-centric approach to transportation infrastructure compared to his predecessor, the late Sylvester Turner.
Whitmire previously called the effort “silly,” and his spokesperson did not comment on the shortfall this week.
Brandon Rottinghaus, professor of political science at the University of Houston, led research with his students on recall efforts across the country. A major takeaway: organizers were rarely successful, with the researchers finding only 56 recalls from 2007 to 2022.
Rob Salinas/Houston Public Media
Houston Mayor John Whitmire, center, waves to a crowd gathered for the Houston Art Car Parade on Saturday, April 12, 2025.
“The organization for recall elections tends to be pretty robust — you’ve got a lot of people out canvassing, you’ve got door-to-door walkers, you’ve got money behind it, and you’ve got a real message,” Rottinghaus said. “It’s not clear that those things happened in this case, and so as a result, that’s the recipe for how recall election efforts fail.”
RELATED: Despite street and crime frustrations, Houstonians satisfied with Mayor Whitmire’s work, poll shows
Hale also ran for an open at-large seat on the Houston City Council. His campaign reported raising $725, including a $200 contribution from Hale. He received just over 2% of the vote.
The flaccid effort to recall Whitmire from office and Hale’s failed run for office weren’t the only disappointments for opponents of the mayor this week. Former city council chief of staff Jordan Thomas — a progressive urbanist who framed his bid for the at-large city council seat as a potential challenge to Whitmire — came in third with 16% of the vote.
“I think it’s a bit disappointing how things ended with Jordan Thomas,” Hale said. “I think for a lot of us fighting the mayor, it’s very disappointing.”
Rottinghaus, however, said Thomas’ campaign “didn’t lose, it just ran out of time.”
“If there was momentum, it tended to be late, and that often doesn’t get the job done,” he said. “In a relatively short primary with low turnout, it’s a hard thing to get attention to a relatively unknown candidate. … Thomas was fighting an uphill battle against two fairly well established opponents.”
RELATED: Alejandra Salinas and Dwight Boykins are headed to a runoff in Houston City Council special election
Trial attorney and newcomer to city politics Alejandra Salinas, along with former District D city council member and unsuccessful mayoral candidate Dwight Boykins, placed first and second, respectively, in Tuesday’s election. They are headed to a runoff in December.
Asked about their willingness to work with Whitmire on election night, Boykins told Houston Public Media he “seems to be the type of mayor that’s working with both sides of the aisle to try to get Houston to continue to move forward, and I look forward to working with him.” Salinas said she intends “to work with him as much as I can to get things done, but I will always stand up for my values and the values of our community.”