In this Central Valley city, 4 out of 5 council members will face recall election
Voters in the Kings County city of Avenal will decide Tuesday whether to recall four of their five council members following an unsuccessful attempt by the city to halt the special election.
Kings County Superior Court on Thursday denied Avenal’s request for a preliminary injunction, allowing the recall election to proceed as scheduled.
The election to recall city council members Leticia Gamez, David Reynosa, Pablo Hernandez and Mayor Alvaro Preciado, is Tuesday. Preciado and Hernandez’s terms expires in November. Gamez and Reynosa’s terms expire in 2028.
Avenal residents initiated the recall of the four elected officials last summer, citing perceived disrespect toward constituents, lack of transparency and Brown Act violations. The only council member who is not being recalled is Ricardo Verdugo, whose term expires in November 2028.
Ballots were mailed earlier this month to voters, and voting was already underway while the case was heard in court.
In his ruling, Judge Robert Burns said granting the preliminary injunction to stop the recall election would undermine the democratic process and harm “the voting public who would have their votes invalidated.”
City officials said that the ruling only addresses whether the recall should have been paused, but the city’s legal challenge remains active.
The city filed a lawsuit against Kings County last month challenging the validity of the recall election, including that the county’s registrar of voters did not have the authority to administer the election.
The city argued that the county has been conducting a recall election without lawful authority to do so. The county says that there is an established practice of the city having the county run elections.
“The law is very black and white and clear that any elections must be started at the city level with the city clerk and given the authority to the county if we need to render any specific services,” Avenal City Manager Antony Lopez told The Bee Thursday after the court hearing.
According to court documents, the county received a request in July 2025 from Avenal residents for a recall against four of the city’s five council members.
According to the court’s rulings, Avenal directed recall proponents to the county twice to initiate the recall process and remained in communication with the county for approximately six months regarding the recall election.
The ruling also indicates that there was a prior informal agreement between Avenal and the county to administer elections and that the city has used the county to administer city elections since 2008.
Last November, the city posted on social media that they were disappointed that the county’s election office validated the recall petitions.
The city cancelled its Dec. 11 council meeting after the four council members facing recall did not attend, leaving the city without a quorum. At that meeting, the county’s registrar of voters was going to present the “certificates of sufficiency” for the recall to the council. The certificate would require the city to select a date for a recall election within 14 days.
On Christmas Day, the city faxed a cease-and-desist letter to the county, saying for the first time that the county didn’t have authority to administer the recall election. The city’s refusal to act triggered a mandatory duty for the county in January to set an election date. The city filed a lawsuit in March.
The estimated cost of the recall election is about $56,707, according to court documents.
