District 14 Republicans officers met in Eagle River on Wednesday and voted unanimously to work to recall Rep. Kelly Merrick.
The grounds will be that she voted for a speaker who is part of the Democrat-controlled caucus, and because she lied to the district.
District members say she told them she would not caucus with the Democrats, and thus she was endorsed by the district in 2020. But she flipped last month and, on the invitation of Democrat Rep. Zack Fields, joined the Democrat-controlled caucus.
The meeting was held after an executive board meeting. The group will not be able to file for a recall petition until 120 days from Jan. 19, 2021, which is May 18. The group already has more than 50 signatures on an application for a recall petition, but will need to bide its time before filing with the Division of Elections for the petition booklets.
Merrick attended via Zoom from Juneau and defended herself, saying the Republicans gathered tonight do not represent the community, but she does. However, the members present say they are confident they will get enough signatures to bring Merrick to a recall vote, and that Eagle River is fired up that their representative emboldened the Democrat-led binding caucus.
The Alaska courts have ruled, in their decision to allow the recall to proceed against Gov. Mike Dunleavy, that nearly any justification may be used by the public to recall an elected leader.
