Vic Fischer not only supported the recall of Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, he was the co-chair of the Recall Dunleavy Committee, which began in 2019, driven by hardcore leftists who would not accept the will of the voters.
Fischer, a former state senator before that a delegate to the Alaska Constitutional Convention, actively participated in the effort, including submitting signatures to the Division of Elections and speaking out against Dunleavy at every occasion. He also endorsed Ballot Measure 1 in 2020, an increase of the tax on oil. Both efforts failed.
House Bill 79 recognizes the contributions of Fischer to Alaska by naming the Shoup Bay State Marine Park in Valdez after him.
Shoup Bay State Marine Park is located five miles southeast of the Port of Valdez and is where the largest tsunami wave of the 1964 earthquake – measuring over 200 feet in height – was recorded. Today, Shoup Bay State Marine Park attracts 100,000 visitors a year.
Democrat Reps. Zack Fields, Alyse Galvin, Andy Josephson and Andrew Gray are the sponsors of HB 79. They ignore the great cost to the state of Fischer’s political adventures in attempting to recall a governor after he had been in office for only three months.
Of those bill sponsors, Rep. Galvin and Rep. Josephson signed Fischer’s petition to recall the governor.
Fischer was born in Berlin in 1924 and had dual US and Russian citizenship. He escaped the Nazis and while he was not explicitly a socialist, his political activities and life-long affiliations showed socialism ran through his veins.
In 2022, he endorsed Democrat Les Gara for governor. He died in 2023 at the age of 99.
The bill passed the House on Friday. Here’s how the vote went down:
YEAS: 35 NAYS: 2 EXCUSED: 3 ABSENT: 0
Yeas: Burke, Bynum, Carrick, Costello, Coulombe, Dibert, Edgmon, Eischeid, Elam, Fields, Foster, Galvin, Gray, Hall, Hannan, Himschoot, Holland, Jimmie, Johnson, Josephson, Kopp, McCabe, Mears, Mina, Nelson, Rauscher, Ruffridge, Saddler, Schrage, Story, Stutes, Tilton, Tomaszewski, Underwood, Vance
Nays: Allard, Schwanke
Excused: Moore, Prax, Stapp
Representative Costello gave notice of reconsideration of the vote on HB 79
