Anti-tax, small government advocate to seek state senate seat

Leon Drolet, the head of the Michigan Taxpayer’s Alliance, has officially announced he will seek to become the next state senator from Macomb county.

Drolet, who has served as a state representative as well as a county commissioner in Macomb, is best know for his Mr. Perks the Pig protests at the state Capitol during the 2007 budget crisis. He would drive the giant pig on a trailer to Lansing and park it on the street in front of the capitol building to protest government spending and taxes.

Drolet will compete in the heavily Republican district with current state Rep. Kim Meltzer (R-Macomb Township) and former state Rep. Jack Brandenburg of Harrison Township. The battle in the GOP primary will likely decide the November winner to replace Sen. Alan Sanborn (R-Richmond Township) who is leaving because of term limits.

Drolet told the Macomb Daily he was running for the Senate because taxes and government spending are driving private sector businesses out of the state.

“Lansing politicians have responded to Michigan’s economic crisis by protecting politicians and government employees from the effects of the depression at the expense of citizens and taxpayers.”

In a 2007 interview with Messenger, Drolet talked about his strategy to force the legislature to block tax increases and cut spending. Part of that strategy included targeting lawmakers who voted to support tax increases with recalls. In the end, while he targeted several lawmakers, only one faced an actual recall election — House Speaker Andy Dillon. And organizers of the recall drive targeting Dillon, a Redford Township Democrat, ended up facing criminal charges for their campaign activities.

Editor’s Note: Drolet informs the Michigan Messenger that, in fact, Dillon faced a recall election in Nov. 2008, after the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals ordered the election. This post has been updated to reflect this information.