‘SAD DAY FOR HOUSE DISTRICT 15, BUT NOT AN UNEXPECTED ONE’
Republican leaders in House District 15 say the 18 charges of voter misconduct and unlawful interference with voting filed against Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux a breach of faith with voters in the district.
“That was a sad day for House District 15, but not an unexpected one,” said Madeleine Gaiser, the district’s Republican Party chair. “Representative LeDoux’s questionable campaign tactics have cast a cloud over our District and the Alaska Republican Party for the past several years. We’ve lost faith that she can represent us honestly.”
On Feb. 17, the District 15 Republican Convention passed a formal Resolution withdrawing support from her candidacy and pledging to recruit and support a candidate to candidate to oppose her in the 2020 Republican Primary. The vote was 10-1, with only LeDoux voting in favor of retaining herself. That was before the State Department of Law filed felony and misdemeanor charges against LeDoux last week.
“We are very happy that David Nelson has stepped forward and filed to run against her,” Gaiser said. “We feel that David Nelson better embodies the vision and values of Republicans here in District 15 and plan to throw our full support behind him and his campaign.”
“Honest and fair elections are the cornerstone upon which our representative government is built,” Nelson said. “It’s impossible to have honest government without honest elections. The Primary Election on August 18 will give us the chance to send new people, ones that we can trust, to represent us honestly in Juneau.”
House District 15 includes the East Anchorage neighborhoods of Muldoon and Creekside Park as well as the Elmendorf section of the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) military reservation.
Nelson is an officer in the Alaska Army National Guard and has been called to activity duty on Monday, so he will not be campaigning or answering media questions for the time being, due to state laws prohibiting such activity.
WILL THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ACT?
Rumors are swirling around the Capitol in Juneau that the House of Representatives will take action against LeDoux on Monday.
What can they do when she has not yet been indicted by a grand jury, but only has been charged with voter fraud, albeit 18 counts? The only thing done in the history of the Legislature was the removing of a senator, after Sen. Milton “Ed” Dankworth was convicted in 1983 of conflict of interest, after he worked on an appropriation that benefited him personally.
The House can also censure LeDoux, as many of the members did to Rep. David Eastman for saying impolite things about abortion practices in rural Alaska — statements for which he did not apologize.
In this case, it’s a matter several degrees more grave. LeDoux has not yet been indicted, but the charges against her reflect on the entire body of lawmakers, on both sides of the aisle. But the House could remove her from her committees — Judiciary, and the Joint Armed Services Committee.
