GOP control of the Senate: 30 years and counting

By ERIC FREEDMAN
Capital News Service
LANSING – Thirty years ago this month, angry voters in Macomb and Oakland counties set the stage for a 30-year Republican lock on the Senate. They recalled two Democratic senators who had voted for Gov. James Blanchard’s 38 percent temporary income tax hike. The Democratic governor had won legislative approval for the increase to balance the state budget amid deep economic problems.
Sen. Phil Mastin of Pontiac lost his job in a Nov. 22, 1983, recall election, and Sen. David Serotkin of Mount Clemens suffered the same fate on Nov. 30.