Judge dismisses recall petition against Auburn mayor
Published 9:00 am Thursday, February 26, 2026
The recall effort against Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus is dead.
King County Superior Court Judge David Whedbee dismissed the petition “with prejudice” during a hearing that began at 10 a.m. Feb. 25 at the King County Courthouse in Seattle.
In legal talk, “with prejudice” means former mayoral candidate Ronnie Morgan III, who filed the petition, cannot again bring his action against Backus forward.
The hearing was intended to allow the judge to assess whether the charges against Backus were of sufficient weight and merit to proceed to trial.
In his petition, Morgan had accused Backus of mishandling sexual assault cases and of leveraging her influence as mayor to grant unwarranted privileges not available to the general public.
Perhaps the most serious claim was that the four-time Auburn mayor had favoritism to a former pastor and admitted child abuser in Auburn.
The judge said he could not find any evidence of wrongdoing, that Backus was within her First Amendment rights to offer support, and that there was no evidence her actions had influenced the legal process.
