Effort To Recall TVUSD Board Member Komrosky Shows Early Success

June 4, 2024 Update: Margin Narrows On Recall Of Temecula Valley USD's Dr. Joseph Komrosky

TEMECULA, CA — Efforts to recall Temecula Valley Unified School District Board President Dr. Joseph Komrosky showed initial signs of success on Election Night.

As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, TVUSD Trustee Area 4 voters who cast "yes" ballots were ahead of "no" votes by 7 percentage points, according to early returns from the Riverside County Registrar of Voters Office.

Trustee Area 4 voters were asked a single yes-or-no ballot question in the June 4 election: "Shall JOSEPH WAYNE KOMROSKY be recalled (removed) from the office of Governing Board Member, Temecula Valley Unified School District, Trustee Area 4?"

Early returns showed "yes" tallies at 4,024 votes or 53.55% of ballots cast, while "no" votes were 3,491 or 46.45%. Approximately 22,074 vote-by-mail ballots were issued , according to the Registrar's office.

"Election Night vote counting is complete but results are not final. An estimated 1,400 vote-by-mail ballots and 50 conditional voter registration ballots remain to be counted," the Registrar reported.

To access the latest election results, click here.

Polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday and ballot counting continued through the night.

Vote-by-mail ballots dropped off on Election Day, as well as conditional voter ballots will be verified and counted in the days following Election Night. In addition, any vote-by-mail ballots delivered by the postal service that are postmarked on or before Election Day and received up to seven days (June 11, 2024) following Election Day will be verified and counted.

Election results will continue to be updated daily until all ballots are counted.

Election results are unofficial until June 20, 2024, when the County of Riverside Registrar of Voters certifies the final tally. The results are then forwarded to the Secretary of State.

One Temecula Valley PAC led efforts to recall Komrosky. Trustee Jennifer Wiersma and former Trustee Danny Gonzalez were initially targeted by the group as well, but those efforts were dropped. Gonzalez resigned his post in December. His Trustee Area 2 seat remains vacant.

Efforts to recall the trio started not long after they took office. The three were each elected in November 2022 to a four-year term on the TVUSD board following support from Inland Empire Family PAC, which works to "stop the indoctrination of our children by placing candidates on school boards who will fight for Christian and conservative values."

Critics, including national organizations, blasted the three trustees over their critical race theory ban; their controversial critical race theory "panel" that many TVUSD teachers dubbed "indoctrination camp"; their censoring of instruction about California's gay rights movement; their attempted defiance of state education code; their firing of the district superintendent; the hiring of their own team of attorneys at taxpayers' expense to defend against ongoing lawsuits over their actions; their ban on pride and other flags; and their mandate that educators report to parents about transgender students.

Their actions cost the district in legal fees and caught the ire of state leaders.