Republicans have recall eyes on Byrum

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Since late spring, progressive types angry about the public school cuts and the anti-union stuff coming out of Republican-led Lansing have been passing around recall petitions. They want Gov. Rick Snyder out. They want at least 26 legislative lawmakers, too.

The efforts, by and large, aren’t going anywhere. Collecting the thousands of signatures needed to get a recall question on the ballot is hard. A ticked-off Jane Doe and her friends aren’t going to stand outside a post office and pull this off.

But with a little money, anything is possible, as the Michigan Education Association proved last week.

The state teachers union dropped $25,000 in Genesee County, paying professional signature gatherers (yes, people actually make a living at this) up to $4 a signature to get a recall question for Rep. Paul Scott, the House Republicans’ education committee chairman, on the Nov. 8 ballot.

The secretary of state needs to count the signatures and make sure they have enough. There’s an appeal the Republicans have filed that needs to be cleared. But it’s assumed Scott’s recall will be put before voters.

The Republicans are not amused. Like the GOP in Wisconsin, the party is fighting back with recall efforts of its own against Democrats they feel are “standing in the way of progress.”

Fight fire with fire, as the saying goes.

The GOP is pledging at least 20 recall efforts across the state, but six are in the works right now. Top on their list: Democratic Rep. Barb Byrum of Onondaga.

Why?

For one, Byrum is one of the few House members representing a politically competitive district. Secondly, she’s not up for re-election next year, giving the Republicans a chance to mobilize volunteers and foot soldiers to win this 67th House District in 2012 even if the recall effort flops.

Lastly, recall fever has already struck Byrum’s rural Ingham County district. Citizens in her hometown of Onondaga who are ticked off over a proposed drag strip in their community just turned in more than 300 signatures to recall three township board members. It doesn’t matter that the five-member board recently reversed its decision on the drag strip.

In Williamston, folks are going after Mayor Michelle Van Wert. In Vevay Township, petitions are being circulated against the supervisor, clerk and a trustee, who are being targeted for having budgeted $23,000 for legal fees. It’s not in the district, but in nearby Potterville, a recall attempt last week was successful.

Technically, the Byrum recall is being headed by Holt’s Robert Walter, who re-filed language Thursday against Byrum for voting against the elimination of the Michigan Business Tax. A clarity hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 24 in Judge George Economy’s courtroom. Language going after Byrum for voting against welfare reform was rejected as being unclear.

In reality, the drive is about political payback against Democrats. She’s like the batter who gets hit by a pitch in retaliation for something another player did. She’s in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The real brains behind the operation is Stu Sandler, who headed former Attorney General Mike Cox’s gubernatorial campaign last year. Sandler just wrapped up a short interim stint as the Michigan GOP’s executive director.

He said Byrum is in the same boat as most other Democrats: She has consistently said no to the reforms and decisions designed to cut government costs and increase accountability of teachers and local elected officials.

Like in the Scott recall in Genesee County, the X factor is money. How much are the Republicans willing to spend and will they spend it to get signatures against Byrum? Sandler won’t tip his hand, but there aren’t a lot of places across the state the Republicans can go.

Outside of Byrum, I can count five or six other House Democrats across the state that represent politically competitive districts, sitting members who could realistically be in trouble during a recall election.

Whomever they target with paid petitions, gatherers will be trouble. As long as roughly 10,000 signatures are filed by late November, a recall question will be put on the Feb. 28 ballot. The other question on that ballot? The Republican presidential primary.

So if the Republicans get the signatures against Byrum, the Democrat will need to fight back against a wave of Republicans rushing to the ballot box to vote for their nominee. Her chances of surviving become much lower.

In the meantime, Byrum is staying quiet on the subject. Given a chance to comment, she declined. Between her and her mom, Dianne, they’ve represented Ingham County in county and state government for nearly three decades. The Byrum name is good.

This recent recall angst, where voters are seemingly jumpy about anything any elected official does, will put that name to the test.

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