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.
The day after polls closed in Alaska, the state House has officially flipped from a Republican-led majority to a bipartisan majority and the Senate will stay bipartisan.
After a judge struck down Alaska’s campaign finance limits in 2021, Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and his allies blocked legislative efforts to cap political spending in Alaska.
This year’s election cycle will be the second where candidates can raise unlimited amounts of money from individual contributions after a federal judge struck down limits.
The 2020 election saw several moderate Republicans in the House and Senate defeated in semi-closed partisan primaries, mainly because they resisted Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s scorched-earth approach to budgeting and governance.
An election reform bill that sought to make it easier for Alaskans living in rural and remote communities to have their votes counted died in the legislative session’s final hours at the hands of House Republicans.
Progressive candidates hold big fundraising leads in several key legislative races on this year’s ballot, including several rematches of races narrowly lost to Republicans in 2022.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed the funds state legislators set aside to settle a dispute between Alaska’s education officials and their federal counterparts over whether the state spent pandemic relief equitably.