1983 San Francisco mayoral recall election


The 1983 mayoral recall election was held to determine whether mayor Dianne Feinstein should be removed from office.

Background

In 1983, Feinstein passed a handgun ban. This angered the White Panther Party, who then organized a successful effort to force a recall election against Feinstein. The White Panther Party's efforts to collect signature were aided by recent anger over Feinstein's veto of legislation which would have extended city-employee benefits to domestic partners.

Campaign

Feinstein was considered to be a popular mayor. By the time of election day, Feinstein's victory was seen as a forgone conclusion.
Feinstein's campaign had organized a very successful effort to encourage voters to use absentee ballots, and distributing absentee ballots to voters ahead of the election.
Despite some disapproval of Feinstein among the gay community, they did not heavily support recalling Feinstein.

Results

Feinstein only lost a single precinct out of the city's 710 voting precincts. The precinct she failed to win saw her lose by only a single vote.