State level recall attempts in the US have been largely ineffectual with only two Governors
being successfully removed from office in this way. These were Lynn J. Frazier (North
Dakota) in 1921 and Gray Davis (California) in 2003. The latter case led to the election of
Arnold Schwarzenegger. Out of 32 attempts in California since 1911 to recall its Governor
the election of Schwarzenegger in 2003 was the only successful one. In 1988 voters filed
enough signatures for Evan Mecham, the Governor of Arizona, to be made the subject of a
recall election but he was impeached by the state’s House of Representatives before the
date of the scheduled recall election.