RECALL PETITIONERS ALSO RAISING FUNDS TO GET SIGNATURES
PSEA, the Public Employees Safety Association, which represents Alaska State Troopers, local police, and other public safety professionals, today donated $5,000 to the Stand Tall With Mike committee, continuing their support of the governor. PSEA endorsed Dunleavy during the 2018 election cycle and Dunleavy has made public safety his top priority.
On the other side of the political issue, the Recall Dunleavy Committee is also busy raising money while waiting to get petition booklets issued by the State Division of Elections. Superior Court Judge Eric Aarseth ruled last week that the Division has until Feb. 10 to issue those booklets.
When they do get their hands on the petition booklets, the recall organizers will fan out across the heavily Democrat and liberal parts of the state, such as Juneau, Anchorage, downtown Homer, and Fairbanks, and gather the 71,252 signatures needed to get the recall onto the ballot in what they hope will be a special election.
The signature gatherers are looking for a slightly larger raw number — probably about 76,000, to be sure they have met the threshold of legitimate signatures. They must turn in 25 percent of the number of Alaskans who voted in the 2018 general election.
The group gathered 49,006 signatures during the first round when they applied for petition booklets, although they only needed to collect 28,501.
As it turns out, there are 74,424 registered Democrats in the state, most of which would be happy to recall any Republican governor.
Those trying to recall the governor have the contact information for each of them through their election database software that they can cross-reference with Division of Elections records.
They also have the contact information for the 125,739 “likely voters” who cast a ballot for Democrat Mark Begich in 2018. This information is fairly easy to determine with today’s sophisticated campaign software.
The Stand Tall With Mike group, opposing the recall, is preparing to appeal Judge Aarseth’s ruling to the Alaska Supreme Court. They may also ask for a stay to prevent those petition booklets from being issued while the matter is in court.
Getting a delay, while unlikely, would make it more possible that the recall question goes to the Primary or General Election ballot, although there is no guarantee. The Recall Dunleavy group is hoping for a special election.
The Recall Dunleavy group can gather signatures up until 180 days prior to the termination of Gov. Dunleavy’s first term in office. That means the opponents of the governor can continue their efforts up until about June 1, 2022, putting pressure on the governor for essentially his entire term. Those signatures, whether gathered now or later, will be used by the next Democrat Party opponent to rally forces to take the seat away from Republicans.
From the day that the Recall Dunleavy Committee turns in the signatures, the State would have 30 days to certify the signatures and the election would be held between 90 and 120 days.
The Alaska Supreme Court, with its liberal bent, is likely to allow the recall election to go forward.
While both sides are raising funds, the Recall Dunleavy group has been more aggressive. A fundraiser was held at the IBEW Hall in Anchorage on Sunday, and another one will be held Jan. 23 at the home of Eleanor Andrews of Anchorage.
This is great news!
This is the first story to report “90 to 120 days” after the signatures are turned in.
All other media stories have said a special election is guaranteed within 90 days after the signatures are gathered?
Seems like another attempt at the classic political “Delay”?
Either way, fighting a process guaranteed by our state constitution is not the way to go.
Let the process play out fairly and see what the people vote.
Good morning, Steve. Thank you for your comments. Here are the rules: “If the director determines the petition is properly filed and if the office is not vacant, the director shall prepare the ballot and shall call a special election to be held on a date not less than 60, nor more than 90, days after the date that notification is given that the petition was properly filed. If a primary or general election is to be held not less than 60, nor more than 90, days after the date that notification is given that the petition was properly filed, the special election shall be held on the date of the primary or general election.”
That means after the petitions are turned in, the Division of Elections has 30 days to verify the signatures. They could do it in less, but with 76,000 or more signatures, that is not something I would count on, if I was Scott Kendall. If you believe the division will take all 30 days, and then add 90 days, it means you could see a special election as far out as 120 days from the date the petitions were turned in. Thank you for helping me clarify that. – sd
Good morning Suzanne and thanks for that information…looking at the timeline, the recall effort is probably around 6 months away from a vote if court decisions do not impede the process.
Either way, it is sure to be another interesting political year in AK.
Longer than 6 months out, Steve. I’m sure that YOU want an accelerated recall vote. But as time marches forward the recall signatures will slow somewhat. Stand With Mike is going to grow some legs as a counter-force to all of the Democrat’s efforts to turn away an earlier election. I urge you to examine a somewhat similar situation in Wisconsin five years ago. Republican Governor Scott Walker had to face a recall vote in a Democrat state. The process for a recall timeline slowed down as out-of-state money poured into Scott Walker’s campaign. He easily survived a recall vote just as Mike Dunleavy will. Out-of-state donations will not pour in to sustain a recall because non-Alaskans don’t typically care about Alaskan politics.
They do care, however, about undone democratic elections in America. I gave generously to Scott Walker, as I will do for Mike Dunleavy. You should too, Steve, and quit supporting the side that believes in swelling government growth to the detriment of hard-working citizens who don’t have the luxury of government jobs. I don’t know what you do for a living. Maybe you are a government employee. Mike Dunleavy ran on a campaign of state austerity, retraction of government growth, and wider distribution of state savings into the hands of the general public as a means to stimulate the private sector. The corrupt bastards in state government ran for the hills after Dunleavy’s election. Now they are coming out again in full force as a means to get even with the voters from 2018. It’s time to wake-up, and man-up, Steve.
Marla,
I am not a government employee or I probably would have lost my job by now for having opinions on political issues in Alaska.
I would like to see the process move in a fair and democratic fashion as you should as well.
If the Governor has the votes, then it should be no problem…I do not understand why dark money from out of state must influence everything that happens politically in AK?
Who are the actual “shareholders” in the 49th state?
Is it the residents who work and buy land here to raise families or the multi national interests that reap billions in annual revenue?
I personally do not donate to financial political campaigns (on either side of the aisle).
Lastly,
I would not count on the same variables in Wisconsin as will happen down the road in AK.
The signature gathering has been honing it skills on several drives this year…
After “Ranked-Choice Voting” &
“Alaska’s Fair Share”, the mechanism is in place to connect with residents swiftly throughout the great state.
Either way, the participation and debate are healthy for Democracy which is what this country is all about.
I am surprised that PSEA made a donation. Reading on their site they were not very happy with the Janus decision. I can not believe they are on board with the Dunleavy interpretation
I think this labor issue could be a problem for Dunleavy. I know many members of my private sector union view themselves as conservatives and voted for Trump and Dunleavy. Now that Dunleavy has made his position clear. He wants to make Alaska a right to work state. I would think many may change their opinion of him. It is not like we will be getting Mark Begich as governor. I also think many of his supporters now realized his PFD promise was a lie and he lacks the leadership skills to deliver on his budgetary issues. Going to be an interesting year. My personal opinion is Dunleavy is already looking for another job. He will resign before the recall vote.
Steve, I think you are missing Marla’s salient points. The people made their choice for governor in November 2018. Dunleavy won. The next election is scheduled for November 2022. Why do you want to undo the will of the people during a scheduled democratic election? And what is with your “dark money?” Shouldn’t people be able to donate freely, even out of state, to protect a free and fair democratic election in America? Ranked voting and AK Fair Share are instruments of the Left to change long-established rules. Both of these initiatives are seeking an assault by a minority of Leftists in order to overrule an already decided issue. Many legislators have lost past elections because they wanted to squeeze more money from the oil companies in the form of taxes. Ranked voting is non-democratic and unfairly ignores the intent of the voters. The Vote for Salmon went down in blazes. Again, Steve, you are missing the big picture. btw, did you give your fair share to MRAK in the form of a generous donation to Suzanne?
I actually found out about the recall when my Republican friend and husband who had voted for Dunleavy were early signers of the recall petition. It is one thing to try the red herring trick with voters who would not vote for you. It’s another to deny your own supporters who are hopping mad that you promised them fiscal responsibility and then don’t do anything responsible at all. then to accuse and not recognize your own constituents when they call you on your actions, and promises, but instead blame some mysterious leftist element in Alaska plotting the recall. Perhaps you mean independent or undeclared voters. Either way Mikey needs to get a clue, when your own people (besides your eager for contracts, rich and corporate friends) want your out…you might stop making excuses and listen.
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