Recall Petition Effort Against Lincoln Mayor Fails by "Thousands" of Signatures

Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird and four Lincoln City Council members will not face a recall election next year.

The group conceded Wednesday it fell "thousands" of signatures short required to call a special election.

The organization supporting the mayor, Decline to Sign, issued a statement calling the effort "a cheap partisan attempt to discredit our duly elected city leaders."

It was a sign the attempt to recall the mayor was sputtering to a close when word went out on social media that recall supporters were trying to collect signatures on the morning of the deadline. Election rules gave them a month to collect the 22 thousand signatures needed to force an election, and they couldn't make it happen.

Samuel Lyon, representing LNK Recall, blamed the weather and COVID rather than its message.

"If there were football games; if there was traffic downtown, if we could have been outside some of the bars and restaurants downtown (and) put the petition in front of the citizenry of Lincoln, we would have hit that number," Lyon told NET News.

"Without that traffic, there just wasn't enough super motivated people to drive across town, stand out in the cold, and sign our petition."

After the city issued a Declaration of an Emergency in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the recall movement came together. The city's ability to take action in a public health emergency is provided for in state law.

Organizers claimed Mayor Gaylor Baird used "other branches of government" illegally and issued "burdensome orders and restrictions" on local businesses.

An attempt to oust the three Democrats and one Republican on the city council also fell short. The group's website did not list reasons for wanting those four removed from office.

In a statement issued late Wednesday, the group Decline to Sign stated the mayor and city council "have Lincoln's best interests in mind during this challenging time. They are doing what we elected them to do."

The failed initiative received support from the Nebraska Republican Party and comedian Larry the Cable Guy.

The Decline group said the lack of support for a recall "sends a loud message that most of Lincoln agrees that now is not the time to implode our city government." The statement added, "recall elections should rarely be used and only in the most egregious cases of violations of our public trust, not squabbles over policy differences."

As for the recall organization's future, Lyon said, "one of the biggest victories we have is the hundreds of motivated Democrats and Republicans that haven't been political before" but recognize the importance of getting involved.

"They're very motivated to push back into to try to get good leadership in Lincoln at all levels."

Lyons left open the possibility of making a second attempt at a recall when the weather improves.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the recall targeted four Democrats on the Lincoln City Council. Of the council members named on petitions, three were Democrats and one was a Republican.