The group organizing an effort to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy has gathered 1,300 signatures on the peninsula since kicking off the second phase of their signature gathering effort two weeks.
Recall Dunleavy, which is working to gather 71,252 signatures, said in a Monday press release they have collected 21,678 signatures statewide.
When those signatures are collected an election or special election will be scheduled, during which Alaskans can vote whether or not they wish to recall the governor.
“It’s no surprise that we’ve already secured about 30% of the required signatures in under two weeks,” Meda DeWitt, chair of Recall Dunleavy, said in the release. “We have over 440 trained signature gatherers in communities across our great state working hard to collect petition signatures everywhere; from living rooms in small communities to the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. Alaskans who love Alaska are taking a stand.”
On the peninsula, signatures were gathered in the communities of Cooper Landing, Kenai, Soldotna, Hope, Seward, Homer and Kasilof, Claire Pywell, campaign manager for Recall Dunleavy, said.
During the first phase of signature gathering, the group needed 28,501 signatures.
Earlier this month, the state Supreme Court allowed for the Recall Dunleavy group to begin the second phase of signature gathering.
In February, Stand Tall With Mike, a group legally opposing the recall effort, dropped its court fight with the state Supreme Court saying “further participation would not be a productive use of its resources.”
In Alaska, grounds for recall are lack of fitness, incompetence, neglect of duties or corruption. Recall Dunleavy, which was fueled in part by deep budget cuts Dunleavy made last year, says the governor violated the constitution when he didn’t appoint a judge in the required time frame, misused state funds for partisan online ads and mailers and improperly used veto power to “attack the judiciary.”
Recall supporters can visit the group’s website to find locations to sign the petition, events and more information at recalldunleavy.org.
