FLUSHING TOWNSHIP, Michigan — A small group of residents became fed up with the way government was going and decided to make a change.

They attracted their like-minded friends who were against any tax increases and believed government needed to cut spending. That small group became a larger movement and they began to win elections.

Sound familiar?

Well, this Tea Party movement started two years ago in Flushing Township.

As the Taxed Enough Already crowd and other anti-establishment groups gain traction nationwide, they’re well-established — and actually have been the establishment around here since 2008.

With the election of Terry Peck as supervisor earlier this month, it is now well in power with five votes on the seven-member board.

“The biggest part of (the change) is the economy,” said Peck. “I think the economy dictated where voters were going.”

The Tea Party has gained notoriety for their “don’t raise taxes, cut government spending” rhetoric, made especially popular by former Alaska Gov. and Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin and the like.

Nationally the Tea Party and other anti-establishment groups have been turning heads by winning elections, despite the odds.

Established congressmen both Republican and Democrat — with the backing of heavy Washington hitters — have been uprooted in Pennsylvania , West Virginia and Utah.

The uproar in Flushing Township started after the township board decided days after a failed police millage increase in May 2008 to put it back on the ballot in November. That peeved residents such as Ken Bueche.

“It was like my vote didn’t count,” said Bueche, 63, who supported Tea candidates. “It made me mad and I said it’s time to make a change.”

Subsequently, a majority of the board was ousted in August 2008 giving seats to Gardner, who teamed up with Tea-minded Mark Purkey, Bill Noecker and Don Schwieman. They gained a fifth with incumbent Democrat Scott Minaudo, joined their voting block after the election.

Schwieman started moving away from the Tea ideals in 2009 and was recalled earlier this year after residents complained about his new policies and a drunk driving arrest.

He was replaced with Peck, a vocal proponent of cutting government spending.

The Flushing Township board has cut vastly, from the township park to the police department.

“The choices that we’re making now in the township, you are going to see these same choices around Michigan and the U.S.,” said township trustee Mike Gardner, who also is the head of the Genesee County Tea Party. “It takes a very strong-minded politician to stand up and say we aren’t going to raise taxes and we are going to cut spending.”

Jack Minore, chair of the Genesee County Democratic Party, called the Tea stronghold in Flushing Township a fluke in Genesee County, which traditionally leans heavily Democratic.

“It’s possible that it can come into the township offices,” he said. “But virtually all offices in Genesee County trend Democratic.”

And, Minore criticized their aggressive cutting — including eliminating the one full-time staffer at the Flushing Township Nature Park, which he called a “gem” to county residents.

Township resident Gary Whitmire, who considers himself a conservative Republican, believes the cuts have gone too far. He ran unsuccessfully for trustee in 2008 and opposed last year’s police layoffs

“I’m not in favor of giant government, but government has an important place to serve the people,” said Whitmire, 59. “It provides services that it can do for us and can’t be done any other way.”

Bill Ballenger, editor of the Inside Michigan Politics, said the state hasn’t yet seen how much — if any — political muscle the Tea Party has.

It is being tested though.

The Republican Primary in the 1st Congressional district, where Democrat Bart Stupak is retiring, is key to seeing where the Tea Party is in Michigan. He said the two favorites are

Dan Benishek, the Tea Party candidate, and state Sen. Jason Allen, the established Republican candidate.

“If

Benishek