Leon Drolet

Leon Drolet (born 1967) is a Michigan Republican politician and political activist known for his libertarian views.

From 2000 to 2006 Drolet served in the Michigan House of Representatives. Drolet also served as a Macomb County, Michigan county commissioner from 1999-2000 and from 2006-2008.

In the 2006 election he acted as state-wide Chair of the successful Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative used the petition process to place a state constitutional amendment (Proposal 2 of November, 2006) before voters that prohibits governments in Michigan from discriminating against, or giving preferential treatment to, any citizen on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of government hiring, contracting, or state university admissions. The amendment was approved by 58% of voters despite the fact that proponents were heavily outspent in the campaign by opponents who supported race-based government preference programs.

During his final term in the state legislature, Drolet co-authored a state constitutional amendment that prohibited governments in Michigan from using their power of eminent domain to seize citizens' private property and turn it over to new owners for their private use. This proposed amendment was Proposal 4 in the November, 2006 election and was overwhelmingly adopted by voters.

After serving his final term in the Michigan state House, Drolet founded the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance, which he Chairs. In 2008, Drolet served as Treasurer of Michigan Recalls, which sought the recalls of several state legislators for their votes in favor of income and business tax increases during Michigan's budget crisis in 2007. After a highly acrimonious petition drive and numerous local and federal court battles, Drolet was successful at obtaining the needed signatures to force a recall election against the Speaker of the Michigan House, Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.). Drolet and recall proponents were also successful in having the federal courts invalidate as unconstitutional Michigan's highly restrictive laws governing recall petition circulators. The prolonged court battles, however, had the effect of postponing the recall election from the targeted August, 2008 primary ballot to the November, 2008 general election ballot. Speaker Dillon survived the recall vote by a significant margin and was reelected to office.

Drolet continues to Chair the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance.