A group seeking Gov. Mike Dunleavy's ouster has yet to gather enough signatures to force a recall election, nearly two years after getting started and with just over a year before the 2022 primary election.
Recall Dunleavy Chair Meda DeWitt said the organization was slowed by the pandemic last year but still continues to gather signatures. She said its leaders are expected to meet soon, though she declined to say when.
The last update on the recall group's website is dated April 26 and showed 57,897 signatures collected. DeWitt said the group is going through an auditing process to ``make sure we know what we have, very specifically.``
A total of 71,252 valid signatures is needed to qualify for a recall election.
``Can I tell you that we're going to submit all of our signatures to the Division of Elections on X-day? No, I cannot tell you that right now,'' DeWitt said.
The effort was ignited in 2019 by public outrage over cuts proposed by Dunleavy, a Republican, during his first year in office. Supporters of the recall quickly gathered signatures for an initial phase. But their application was rejected, spawning a legal fight, and then the pandemic hit.
The Alaska Supreme Court in May 2020 ruled the recall effort could proceed. It had earlier allowed the group to begin the last round of signature-gathering while it weighed the case.
Dunleavy has not yet said whether he will seek reelection next year.
Cynthia Henry, chair of the pro-Dunleavy group Keep Dunleavy, said if there is a recall election, ``we will be well positioned to run a campaign to keep the governor in his office.''
Under state law, a recall petition must be filed at least 180 days before the end of a governor's term, which in this case would make the deadline June 8, 2022, said Tiffany Montemayor, a spokesperson for the state Division of Elections.
The division has up to 30 days to review a petition. If it finds the paperwork meets requirements, it would notify the petitioners and Dunleavy, and an election would be held 60 to 90 days later, she wrote in an email.
The primary election is scheduled for Aug. 16, 2022. Under a voter initiative passed last year, it would be an open primary, with the top four vote getters advancing to the general election. A legal challenge to the system set up by the initiative is pending.
Lindsay Kavanaugh, executive director of the Alaska Democratic Party, said the party has supported the recall effort. And while there is value in continuing the effort, at some point recall leaders may need to ask whether it's drawing attention and resources from other candidates, Kavanaugh said.
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