Gubernatorial recall effort against Mike Dunleavy

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The gubernatorial recall effort against Mike Dunleavy is an effort to petition a recall election to recall Governor Mike Dunleavy. It would be the second recall petition against a governor in Alaska history. The first recall petition filed against a governor, Governor Wally Hickel, failed. [1] The date of the likely election has yet to be determined due to the second recall petition still being underway. If the recall election is successful, Lieutenant Governor Kevin Meyer would become governor. [2]

Contents

Background

Recall petitions in Alaska

Recall petitions in Alaska have two rounds. In the first petition round a group of three sponsors forms a recall committee and then collects signatures from registered voters equal to 10% of votes cast in the previous general election. The recall committee then submits these signatures to the Alaska Division of Elections. The Division of Elections will either accept or refuse the petition. If accepted the recall committee shall then proceed to the second petition round and collect signatures equal to 25% of the votes cast in the previous general election. Once the second completed petition is submitted to the Division of Elections they will either accept or refuse the petition. If accepted the Division of Elections will schedule a recall election. [3]

The Alaska State Legislature sets the rules for recall elections. [4] In the event a recall is successful, the vacancy will be filled "as a vacancy caused by any other means". [5] If a recall election against the Governor of Alaska is successful, then the Lieutenant Governor of Alaska will finish the remainder of the term. [4]

The deadline to submit signatures for the petition is 180 days before the end of the governor's term which is June 8, 2022. [3]

Dunleavy recall petition

On July 15, 2019, an effort to recall Dunleavy began following a public backlash over his cuts to public assistance, education and the University of Alaska ($135 million cut to state funding, about a 41% reduction). To have the petition certified by the Division of Elections, the petitioners were required to submit 28,501 signatures (approximately 10% of the voting population in Alaska's last general election). [6] On September 5, 2019, volunteers submitted 49,006 petition signatures to the Alaska Division of Elections for certification. [7] On November 4, 2019, the Division of Elections declined to certify the recall petition following the issuance of a legal opinion by Alaska attorney general Kevin Clarkson, a Dunleavy appointee. Clarkson acknowledged that the petitioners had submitted sufficient signatures and paid the necessary fees, but asserted that "the four allegations against the governor 'fail to meet any of the listed grounds for recall—neglect of duty, incompetence, or lack of fitness'". The petitioners stated that they would appeal the division's decision. [8] In January 2020, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Eric Aarseth rejected the division's decision not to certify the recall petition. On May 8, 2020, the Alaska Supreme Court affirmed that the recall effort could go forward. [9] [10]

On February 18, 2021, the recall campaign announced they had reached 55,613 signatures out of the 71,252 required to submit the second petition to the Alaska Division of Elections. [11] As of August 21, 2021, they had collected 62,373 signatures out of the 71,252 according to the website. [12]

Campaign

On March 18, 2021, Governor Dunleavy said he believed the recall election would occur in the summer of 2021 and he planned to campaign to remain in office. [13] As of June 2022, not enough signatures have been collected. Dunleavy will be up for re-election in November 2022.

Polling

Dunleavy recall

Graphical summary
Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [lower-alpha 1] 		Margin
of error		Yes
on recall		No
on recall		Undecided
DittmanResearch/Keep Dunleavy [upper-alpha 1] December 2–6, 2020502 (LV)± 4.4%39%57%4%
Public Policy Polling [upper-alpha 2] July 7–8, 20201,081 (V)± 3.0%39%46%15%
Alaska Survey Research June 23 – July 7, 2020663 (LV)± 3.8%44%50%6%
Alaska Survey Research April, 2020– (V) [lower-alpha 2] –42%48%11%
Alaska Survey Research December, 2019– (V) [lower-alpha 3] –48%48%4%
Alaska Survey Research September, 2019– (V) [lower-alpha 4] –50%42%8%

Notes

  1. ↑ Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. ↑ Not yet released
  3. ↑ Not yet released
  4. ↑ Not yet released
Partisan clients
  1. ↑ Poll sponsored by Keep Dunleavy, which opposes the recall
  2. ↑ Polling's funding was crowdsourced by Election Twitter.

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References

  1. ↑ "Recall History" (PDF). elections.alaska.gov. Alaska Division of Elections. August 29, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Mike Dunleavy recall, Governor of Alaska (2019-2021)". ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  3. 1 2 "State Office Recall Petition Process". elections.alaska.gov. Alaska Division of Elections. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Alaska State Constitution". alaska.gov. State of Alaska. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  5. ↑ "Alaska Statutes Title 15 Section 15.45.700". akleg.gov. The Alaska State Legislature. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  6. ↑ Minemyer, Derek (August 12, 2019). "Alaskans mount effort to recall governor as huge budget cuts threaten education, Medicaid". nbcnews.com. NBC News. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Recall Dunleavy campaign turns in 49,000 signatures collected in 5 weeks". Anchorage Daily News. 2019-09-05. Retrieved 2019-09-07.
  8. ↑ "Alaska Division of Elections rejects recall petition for Gov. Dunleavy". Anchorage Daily News. November 4, 2019.
  9. ↑ Beran, Jaclyn (May 12, 2020). "Alaska Supreme Court rules Gov. Mike Dunleavy recall can proceed". Ballotpedia News. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  10. ↑ Bohrer, Becky (May 8, 2020). "Alaska Supreme Court: Recall effort can proceed". Juneau Empire. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  11. ↑ Brooks, James (February 21, 2021). "Recall campaign against Alaska Gov. Dunleavy approaches threshold needed to call for a statewide vote, backers say". adn.com. Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Recall Dunleavy" . Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Dunleavy asked about election plans on Action Line, he expects recall election to happen this summer". kinyradio.com. KINY800/94.9. March 18, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
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