Andy Dillon recall, Michigan (2008)
| Michigan House of Representatives recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| November 4, 2008 |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2008 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws State legislative recalls Recall reports |
A recall election seeking to remove Speaker of the House Andy Dillon (D-17) from the Michigan House of Representatives was rejected with 62.72% voting against the recall on November 4, 2008.[1]
Background
The recall effort was launched in February 2008 by a group called Taxpayers to Recall Andy Dillon. It was in response to Dillon's support of the Michigan service tax and his vote in favor of HB 5194 on October 1, 2007, which increased state taxes. These bills combined amounted to a state tax increase of $1.385 billion. HB 5194 increased the Michigan income tax rate from 3.9% to 4.35%, effective immediately upon passage on October 1, 2007. If Dillon had been recalled, it would have been the first recall of a Michigan legislator since 1983, when Phil Mastin and David Serotkin were removed from office after voting for a state income tax increase of $675 million.[2]
Path to the ballot
National Ballot Access was the signature vendor for this petition drive.
Michigan law required that petition circulators live in the district in which the recall was sought.[3] On March 17, 2008, supporters of Andy Dillon filed a court motion with Wayne County Circuit Judge William Giovan asking that the judge issue an injunction against the organizers of the recall effort. Instead, Judge Giovan issued a court order saying that the recall organizers must not use petition circulators who did not reside in the district. Recall organizers said they did not use out-of-district circulators and that therefore the court order had no impact on them.[4][5][6]
On May 1, 2008, recall supporters submitted 15,498 signatures to election authorities, but Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land (R) announced on June 5 that recall proponents did not collect enough valid signatures. Elections officials said 7,948 of the signatures submitted were valid, which was 776 fewer than needed to make the August ballot.[7][8]
On July 18, 2008, recall supporters filed a lawsuit, Bogaert v. Land, against the Secretary of State's office, and a federal judge issued an order on August 27 for Land to re-examine the signatures without reference to statutory requirements prohibiting non-residents of Dillon's district from circulating petitions.[9][10] Dillon appealed the ruling with the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on September 2, but the appeal was denied.[11] Land certified the recall for the November 2008 ballot on September 5, 2008, following the recount of the submitted signatures.[12]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Wayne County, Michigan, "Summary Report," accessed June 6, 2020
- ↑ Michigan Capitol Confidential, "Total Recall: Michigan Tax Revolts: 1983 and Today," April 1, 2008
- ↑ State Political Blogs, "A Tale of Two Recalls," April 17, 2008
- ↑ Associated Press, "Recall fight over Michigan House Speaker Dillon headed to court," April 18, 2008
- ↑ WWMT-TV, "Recall fight over Speaker Dillon headed to court," April 17, 2008
- ↑ MLive, "Judge rules on Dillon recall effort," April 18, 2008
- ↑ Detroit Free Press: "Dillon recall effort advances," May 2, 2008
- ↑ Associated Press, "Mich. House speaker recall fails; too few valid signatures," June 5, 2008
- ↑ Associated Press, "Failed Dillon recall effort tries again," July 23, 2008
- ↑ Detroit Free Press, "Ruling revives recall effort against speaker Dillon," August 27, 2008
- ↑ Dearborn Press and Guide: "Dillon, Sec. of State appeal recall ruling," September 7, 2008 (dead link)
- ↑ Detroit Free Press: "Dillon recall to be on ballot," Sept. 5, 2008
