It appears that the days of Rep. David Eastman spreading divisive, inflammatory and sometimes-racist rhetoric in the halls of the Alaska Legislature is set to come to an end.
According to results from Tuesday’s election, the Wasilla Republican lags Mat-Su School Board President Jubilee Underwood, a Republican, by about three percentage points. Underwood’s 51%-47.7% lead comes on the heels of concerted effort by Republicans to oust Eastman, who has been a long-time source of frustration for the GOP.
Eastman has regularly made headlines since winning a seat in the Alaska Legislature in 2016, including suggestions that women living in rural, predominantly Alaska Native communities are “glad” to get pregnant so they can get Medicaid-funded trips for an abortion and later wondered whether the death of abused children could be a “benefit to society” because they would not rely on social services later in life. A member of the anti-government Oath Keepers militia group, Eastman also faced efforts to disqualify him under the state’s Red Scare-era disloyalty laws but a judge ultimately ruled that he should be allowed to hold office.
But perhaps Eastman’s greatest sin in the eyes of Republicans is that he’s simply not much of a team player.
Eastman has regularly refused to play nice with other Republicans when it comes to the daily business of the Alaska Legislature, such as agreements to pass Republican-crafted budgets and has regularly been disruptive during House floor sessions. He and his allies have also attacked other Republcians for not being strong enough on issues like abortion. In the last session, Eastman was not invited to be part of the Republican-led majority, though he was granted one committee seat before it was ultimately stripped away from him.
While Republicans campaigning against Eastman isn’t a new phenomenon, this year marked a particularly strong pushback with several big-name Republicans lending their support to Underwood’s bid to defeat him.
Her campaign boasts endorsements from Republicans like Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Palmer Sen. Shelley Hughes, Wasilla Sen. Mike Shower, Tok Rep. Mike Cronk, Big Lake Rep. Kevin McCabe, Homer Rep. Sarah Vance, former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and Eagle River Rep. Jamie Allard.
In her endorsement statement, Allard called the seat a “pickup seat for Republicans.”
While Underwood can be expected to be a better team player as Republicans are slated to be relegated the minority following other losses throughout the state, her politics are frankly not that much different from Eastman’s.
As the Mat-Su School Board president, she’s been engaged in the district’s book bannings and efforts to marginalize student input on the board activities. Her campaign’s main policy platform is banning trans girls from sports and bathrooms.
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.
