MEA Wins: State Lawmaker Recalled For First Time In 18 Years

November 9, 2011 9:47 AM

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LANSING (AP) – Michigan’s largest teachers’ union spearheaded an effort that appears to have successfully recalled a Republican state lawmaker from office.

Rep. Paul Scott of Grand Blanc told The Associated Press early Wednesday that he accepts the results of a recall election that would remove him from office.

Republicans calculated late Tuesday that Scott had lost the recall bid by 232 votes. Unofficial results posted Wednesday by Genesee County had the race even closer, with Scott losing by 197 votes of the more than 24,000 cast.

Scott was targeted by the Michigan Education Association because of his leadership role in a new law that will weaken the role of teacher tenure in Michigan. The union also was upset about Scott’s votes to cut education funding.

Its All Academic

Its not nice to fool a teacher’s union. Teachers want a guaranteed paying job, unlike the rest of us who are subject to highly probable unemployment and layoff. The bully pulpit has spoken and voted.
JWilly48519

This story and most of the other recent coverage has been misleading in focusing solely on the MEA-vs-Scott angle. Scott is Republican, and his district is heavily Republican. The MEA organized the recall, but the decisive votes against Scott came from Republicans. Some Republicans who originally voted for Scott voted against him in the recall because of the terrible moral example he set by getting his girlfriend pregnant while married, then getting divorced, then breaking up with his pregnant girlfriend.

In my view the MEA’s issues, while no doubt important for some voters, were secondary to Scott’s loss.
JWilly48519

A qualification to my previous comment for those who care: while the Scott district tilts Republican, it’s in Genesee Country, so it’s *moderate* Republican and therefore pays attention to the MEA’s arguments.

My observation of public opinion among district Republicans, though, is that while those Republicans care a lot about schools, ultimately the point is to guide young people so that they grow up to be good citizens…and the public moral example set by taxpayer-paid elected officials is relevant to that guidance.
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2011/11/18/election-board-expected-to-certify-lawmakers-recall/ Election Board Expected To Certify Lawmaker’s Recall « CBS Detroit

[...] County election results show that voters decided to recall Rep. Paul Scott of Grand Blanc by a 232-vote margin out of 24,484 votes [...]