Aurora recall referendum effort submits nearly 9,000 signatures

The proposed referendum would establish a process allowing Aurora voters to initiate a recall of a sitting mayor or alderperson at large if they believe an elected official has failed to meet the standards expected by voters.

Danny Souri, director of operations for Aurora for Change, said the effort is not centered on removing one particular elected official but on changing how residents can hold city officials accountable.

“It’s the whole general, like political system as it is,” Souri said. “We talk about checks and balances, and we talk about government elected official accountability, but really at the end of the day the people that hold government officials accountable are their fellow government officials.”

Souri compared the city to a corporation, arguing that residents should have a mechanism to intervene if they believe elected leadership is moving the city in the wrong direction.

“If there’s a CEO that goes into a corporation and the stocks plummet, you know, the shareholders, which in this case would be the citizens, should have the ability to course correct,” Souri said.

Jayden Badillo, vice chairman of the Aurora Township Republicans and a member of the Aurora for Change effort, said the proposal originated through conversations between himself and Adam Pauley, the group's treasurer, who Badillo said is a Democrat.

Badillo, 19, said the two became involved in local politics from different sides of the political spectrum but found common ground around giving residents greater control over their local government.

“I think the fact that you can’t recall an elected official on the city level is a little ridiculous,” Badillo said. “The voter puts so much trust in their candidate and they’ll go out and cast their vote. And if that candidate doesn’t live up to the voter’s standard, it’s the voter’s power to go, ‘Hey, this is the person representing me. I don’t want him anymore.’”

The nearly 9,000 signatures, organizers said, represent a broad range of political viewpoints.

Souri said Republicans, Democrats and independents signed the petitions, including people who were not necessarily opposed to the current administration.

“There were so many people that signed this petition with the idea of saying, you know what, this is right,” Souri said. “We should have the ultimate ability to hold those government officials accountable.”

Badillo similarly said the campaign has attracted interest beyond traditional party lines. He said organizers have also heard from people around Illinois interested in pursuing similar recall mechanisms in their own communities.

The effort comes as Aurora's city government is preparing for the 2026 general election Nov. 3.

The petition signatures and referendum questions are not yet the same thing as a recall election. Organizers said they expect the petitions, and the legality of the proposed questions, could face objections before the measures ultimately reach voters.

Badillo said organizers believe the signatures themselves will withstand scrutiny but expect opponents could challenge the wording or legality of the referendum questions.

If approved by voters, the proposed system would not automatically remove any elected official from office. Instead, it would create a process through which residents could organize a recall effort against a mayor or alderperson at large.

Badillo said organizers intentionally support a high threshold for initiating a recall because they do not want the process to become a routine partisan tool.

“We don’t want this to become some kind of partisan act where every time someone gets elected, people are just constantly trying to recall somebody,” Badillo said.

Souri rejected the argument that creating a recall mechanism would be undemocratic.

“To those that would say it’s undemocratic, this is the most democratic thing you could ask for,” Souri said, pointing to the thousands of signatures collected by the group.

He also argued the petition effort demonstrates a level of support comparable to the number of votes received by Aurora's current mayor when elected, although those figures measure different things and are not directly equivalent.

For organizers, the effort could extend beyond Aurora if the referendum succeeds.

“The city of Aurora is always known as the city of lights,” Souri said. “And if we have to lead the way as a beacon with a blueprint on how everybody across the state can use this in their municipalities to bring total accountability back to the people, then so be it.”

The next step will be the review of the submitted petitions and any potential objections before it is determined whether the referendum questions will appear before Aurora voters in November.