Petition Seeks Recall of Rep. Tim Bledsoe

A Grosse Pointe Woods man filed a petition this week with the Wayne County Clerk's Office to seek the recall of Rep. Tim Bledsoe (D-Grosse Pointe) based on a single vote he lodged during his tenure in office. 

The petition submitted by John Hauler is set for a clarity hearing for 9 a.m. Aug. 30, 2011, in the City-County Building, during which the Wayne County Election Commission decides whether the language used on the petition meets the recall requirements. 

Hauler wasn't available for comment Thursday but agreed to talk to Patch on Friday. 

According to the petition, Hauler wants to seek Bledsoe's recall based on his May 12, 2011, vote on house bill 4362, which sought the elimination of the Michigan Business Tax and a tax increase upon individuals. Bledsoe voted against the bill. 

Bledsoe received notification of the petition Wednesday and questions the motives. He said he believes this is a Republican-fueled effort to, at a minimum, weaken his Democratic standing for the next election.

He believes the effort doesn't really have anything to do with his vote on the particular house bill named in the petition but is actually related to his opposition to the governor's proposed Schools of Choice plan—a subject he's put at the top of his work agenda.

Bledsoe held a , has on the topic and has invited the Senate Education Committee chair to hold a public hearing in the Grosse Pointes on the topic. He has been vocal about opposing the plan and is continuing his efforts. 

Hauler ran for the 13th Congressional District seat in 2010 but lost to U.S. Rep. Hansen Clarke. According to the John Hauler for Congress Facebook page, he was recruited by the Republican Party to run for that seat.

Bledsoe said there is no personal connection between Hauler and himself but he believes Hauler is working on behalf of the state's Republican Party in seeking the recall.

If Hauler receives the OK from the Wayne County Election Commission on Aug. 30 to pursue a recall petition, the language approval lasts 180 days and the required signatures must be gathered within a 90-day period inside those 180 days.

Hauler would have to gather signatures that totaled at least 25 percent of the voter turnout in Bledsoe's last race—or 8,247 signatures. The signatures must be from registered voters who live in the district of the office in question. 

In Bledsoe's November 2010 election, the Wayne County Clerk's Election Division shows 32,998 voters lodged a vote in his race.

Bledsoe said Thursday he doesn't think that many people would sign a recall petition but recalls are never something that can be easily predicted.

He believes this effort is part of a bigger effort to target the Grosse Pointes as a whole:

• First the
• The
• And now, Bledsoe says, this effort to recall him.

Bledsoe said even his conservative constituents are questioning decisions going on in Lansing right now by leadership and the way legislation is being passed.