LANSING — The state capital now has about half a dozen
recall campaigns underway, with all of them targeting Republicans. The last
time a major wave of recall efforts occurred against a single party was in
1983, when Democratic legislators were in control over the hike in the state
income tax of that year. According to Bill Ballenger, the editor of Inside
Michigan Politics newsletter, there were about a dozen recall efforts that
year, but only two ended up making it onto the ballot.  While the talk of tax hikes got people
motivated in 1983, the opposite seems to happening today. Ballenger says the
majority of the complaints against lawmakers and Governor Rick Snyder are
towards cutting funding and programming, and the expansion of the control of
emergency managers. There are also recall efforts against Governor Snyder and
state Senator Mike Nofs, who is facing the biggest test amongst recalls because
he is in a swing district.