Mike Dunleavy (politician)

Michael James Dunleavy (born May 5, 1961) is an American politician serving as the 12th governor of Alaska. Dunleavy was a Republican member of the Alaska Senate from 2013 to 2018. He defeated former Democratic United States senator Mark Begich in the 2018 gubernatorial election after incumbent governor Bill Walker dropped out of the race.

Mike Dunleavy
12th Governor of Alaska
Incumbent
Assumed office December 3, 2018
Lieutenant	Kevin Meyer
Preceded by	Bill Walker
Member of the Alaska Senate from the E district D district (2013–2015)
In office January 15, 2013 – January 15, 2018
Preceded by	Redistricted
Succeeded by	Mike Shower
Personal details
Born	Michael James Dunleavy (1961-05-05) May 5, 1961 Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Rose Newlin
Children	3
Residence	Governor's House
Education	Misericordia University (BA) University of Alaska Fairbanks (MEd)

Early life and education

Dunleavy is from Scranton, Pennsylvania. He completed a bachelor's degree in history at Misericordia University in 1983.[1] He earned his master's degree in education from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.[2] He moved to Alaska in 1983, and pursued a career as a teacher, school principal and school district superintendent. Prior to his election to the Alaska Senate, Dunleavy served on the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Board, including two years as the board's president.

Local elections

Dunleavy challenged incumbent state senator Linda Menard (redistricted from District G) for the District D August 28, 2012 Republican Primary and won with 2,802 votes (57.42%).[3] He was unopposed in the November 6 general election and won with 11,724 votes (94.24%) against write-in candidates.[4]

Governor of Alaska

Election

In 2017 Dunleavy announced he would run for governor in 2018, but abandoned the race in September 2017, citing heart problems.[5] In December 2017 he announced his return to the race.[6] He resigned his senate seat effective January 15, 2018, to focus on his campaign.[7] Retired United States Air Force lieutenant colonel Mike Shower was chosen as his successor by Governor Bill Walker and confirmed by the Alaska Senate caucus after numerous replacement candidates were rejected.[8]

Tenure

Dunleavy speaking in the governor's office, accompanied by members of his administration, on May 15, 2019.

Dunleavy meeting with residents at a meeting regarding the Deshka Landing Fire in 2019.

Dunleavy and Kevin Meyer were the Republican nominees for governor and lieutenant governor of Alaska, respectively, and were elected in the November 2018 general election. Dunleavy was sworn in on December 3, 2018. He appointed Kevin Clarkson to be Alaska attorney general.[9]

On June 28, 2019, Dunleavy exercised line-item veto authority as governor to make cuts of $433 million, including a cut of $130 million (41%) of state contributions to the University of Alaska.[10] The same day, he also vetoed $335,000 from the budget of the Alaska Supreme Court, stating that he did so because the Court had held that the state was constitutionally required to provide public funding for elective abortions.[11]

Recall attempt

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).[12] Signature gathering for the recall began on August 1 in several locations across the state.[13] 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).[14] On September 5, 2019, volunteers submitted 49,006 petition signatures to the Alaska Division of Elections for certification.[15] On November 4, 2019, the Division of Elections declined to certify the recall petition. The Division 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.[16] In January 2020, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Eric Aarseth rejected Clarkson’s ruling. The state appealed Aarseth’s ruling to the Alaska Supreme Court, which on May 8 affirmed that the recall effort could go forward.[17][18]

Electoral history

Republican primary results[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Dunleavy	43,802	61.5
	Republican	Mead Treadwell	22,780	32.0
	Republican	Michael Sheldon	1,640	2.3
	Republican	Merica Hlatcu	1,064	1.5
	Republican	Thomas Gordon	884	1.4
	Republican	Gerald Heikes	499	0.7
	Republican	Darin Colbry	416	0.6
Total votes			71,195	100.0

2018 Alaska gubernatorial election[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Mike Dunleavy	145,631	51.44%	+5.56%
	Democratic	Mark Begich	125,739	44.41%	N/A
	Independent	Bill Walker (inc.) (withdrawn)	5,757	2.03%	-46.07%
	Libertarian	William Toien	5,402	1.91%	-1.30%
	n/a	Write-ins	605	0.21%	-0.11%
Total votes			'283,134'	'100.0%'	N/A
	Republican gain from Independent

References

1. Hiller, Mark (November 9, 2018). "Alaska Governor-Elect is NEPA native". Pahomepage.com. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
2. "Senator Mike Dunleavy's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
3. "State of Alaska 2012 Primary Election August 28, 2012 Official Results". Juneau, Alaska: State of Alaska Division of Elections. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
4. "State of Alaska 2012 General Election November 6, 2012 Official Results". Juneau, Alaska: State of Alaska Division of Elections. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
5. Dunleavy suspends campaign for Alaska governor as Huggins files to run, Alaska Dispatch News, Nathaniel Herz, September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
6. Denleavy back in race for governor, Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, December 22, 2017.
7. State senator Mike Dunleavy resigns from Legislature to boost gubernatorial run, Juneau Empire, James Brooks, January 9, 2018.
8. Mike Shower confirmed to Dunleavy Senate seat, Alaska Public Media, Phillip Manning, February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
9. "Dunleavy attorney general appointee Kevin Clarkson is lawyer with ties to religious-liberty causes". Anchorage Daily News. December 5, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
10. "University of Alaska president: Dunleavy veto is unprecedented and 'devastating'". Anchorage Daily News. June 28, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
11. Herz, Nathaniel; Anchorage, Alaska's Energy Desk (June 29, 2019). "Alaska Gov. Dunleavy wields veto pen to attack state Supreme Court over abortion ruling". Alaska Public Media. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
12. "Alaska university head offers positive outlook in address". AP NEWS. March 2, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
13. Kesslen, Ben (August 1, 2019). "'Alaskans to Recall Mike Dunleavy' make final preparations to gather signatures statewide". KTUU Channel 2 News. KTUU. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
14. 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.
15. "Recall Dunleavy campaign turns in 49,000 signatures collected in 5 weeks". Anchorage Daily News. September 5, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
16. "Alaska Division of Elections rejects recall petition for Gov. Dunleavy". Anchorage Daily News. November 4, 2019.
17. Beran, Jaclyn (May 12, 2020). "Alaska Supreme Court rules Gov. Mike Dunleavy recall can proceed". Ballotpedia News. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
18. Bohrer, Becky (May 8, 2020). "Alaska Supreme Court: Recall effort can proceed". Juneau Empire. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
19. "GEMS ELECTION RESULTS". www.elections.alaska.gov.
20. http://www.elections.alaska.gov/results/18GENR/data/results18.pdf

External links

• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Mike Dunleavy at 100 Years of Alaska's Legislature
• Mike Dunleavy on Twitter

Party political offices
Preceded by Sean Parnell	Republican nominee for Governor of Alaska 2018	Most recent
Political offices
Preceded by Bill Walker	Governor of Alaska 2018–present	Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Mike Pence as Vice President	Order of Precedence of the United States Within Alaska	Succeeded by Mayor of city in which event is held
		Succeeded by Otherwise Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Doug Ducey as Governor of Arizona	Order of Precedence of the United States Outside Alaska	Succeeded by David Ige as Governor of Hawaii