Juneauites gathered signatures to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy in late February. (Peter Segall | Juneau Empire)

Juneauites gathered signatures to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy in late February. (Peter Segall | Juneau Empire)

Alaska Voices: After a Supreme Court win, Alaskans have the right and responsibility to recall

We won. The recall is moving forward with speed.

  • By Joe Usibelli Sr. and Vic Fischer
  • Tuesday, May 19, 2020 11:37pm
  • Opinion

On May 8, the Alaska Supreme Court affirmed the right of Alaskans to hold a recall election. As co-chairs of the Alaskan effort to remove Gov. Michael J. Dunleavy from office, we write with an urgent message: our state’s future is in our collective hands. If you have not already signed a recall petition in 2020, now is the time to request a household booklet online and sign again.

After months of stall tactics by the governor, the Alaska Supreme Court has put to rest all legal challenges to the recall. Its ruling confirmed what we knew all along: Gov. Dunleavy acted incompetently, demonstrated lack of fitness, and violated Alaska law and the Alaska Constitution. No amount of foot-dragging, even by state leaders, can change those facts. We won. The recall is moving forward with speed.

In the shadow of COVID-19, many Alaskans are spending every waking hour home-schooling children and scrambling to pay household bills. While you’ve been sheltering in place, away from jobs, friends, and group gatherings in an effort to keep your fellow Alaskans safe, Gov. Dunleavy has been busy — doubling down on the same extreme vetoes to higher education, health care, public radio, school bond debt reimbursement, and coastal infrastructure he made last year.

The difference? This time he cut crucial services in the midst of a global pandemic, injecting economic risk and additional instability during a time when we can least afford it. The governor’s new vetoes this spring send a fresh wave of harm to rural Alaskans, to businesses in coastal communities, and to hospitals preparing for a second surge of COVID-19 cases as we begin to ease distancing restrictions. Despite deafening outcry from every corner of the state, our governor has not listened to Alaskans over the past year, nor has he learned.

As bipartisan Recall Dunleavy co-chairs, we have collectively lived in Alaska for over 150 years, investing our lives and careers in this great state. Together, we are business leaders, keepers of culture, trustees of higher education, and a signer of the Alaska Constitution. We bring this time-tested perspective: our state is experiencing — and will continue to experience — debilitating levels of economic stress and uncertainty as long as Gov. Dunleavy remains in office. His behavior demonstrates a pattern of brutal red-pen vetoes that will repeat itself until he is recalled.

In the months to come, Alaska will begin its recovery from COVID-19 and the task of guiding our economic comeback will be enormous. At such a time we’ll be in grave need of a leader with common sense, a grasp of economics, and the well-being of all Alaskans at heart. Michael J. Dunleavy is not that leader.

Before the pandemic, Recall Dunleavy collected more than 30,000 petition signatures in less than three weeks; a total that typically takes about three months for ballot initiatives to collect. We’re halfway to our goal of 71,252 signatures, but we need your help to collect the rest as soon as possible for submission to the Department of Elections this summer.

Alaskans, the Supreme Court has cleared our way to recall. Sign the petition as soon as possible by requesting a booklet at the Recall Dunleavy website. Regardless of party affiliation, each and every one of us is now endowed with the right and the responsibility to put the following question on the ballot: shall we, the people of Alaska, remove Gov. Dunleavy from office based on the grounds of incompetence, lack of fitness, and violating Alaska law and the Alaska Constitution? The choice is ours to make.

Joseph Usibelli Sr. is chairman of the board of Usibelli Coal Mine, Inc. Victor Fischer served in Alaska’s territorial Legislature and is the last living member of the group of 55 men and women who wrote Alaska’s State Constitution. Both serve as co-chairs to Recall Dunleavy.


• Joseph Usibelli Sr. is chairman of the board of Usibelli Coal Mine, Inc. Victor Fischer served in Alaska’s territorial Legislature and is the last living member of the group of 55 men and women who wrote Alaska’s State Constitution. Both serve as co-chairs to Recall Dunleavy.


More in Opinion

Nick Begich III campaign materials sit on tables ahead of a May 16, 2022, GOP debate held in Juneau. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: North to a Brighter Future

The policies championed by the Biden/Harris Administration and their allies in Congress have made it harder for us to live the Alaskan way of life

Soldotna City Council member Linda Farnsworth-Hutchings participates in the Peninsula Clarion and KDLL candidate forum series, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, at the Soldotna Public Library in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: I’m a Soldotna Republican and will vote No on 2

Open primaries and ranked choice voting offer a way to put power back into the hands of voters, where it belongs

Shrubs grow outside of the Kenai Courthouse on Monday, July 3, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Vote yes to retain Judge Zeman and all judges on your ballot

Alaska’s state judges should never be chosen or rejected based on partisan political agendas

A vintage Underwood typewriter sits on a table on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at the Homer News in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Point of View: District 6 needs to return to representation before Vance

Since Vance’s election she has closely aligned herself with the far-right representatives from Mat-Su and Gov. Mike Dunleavy

The Anchor River flows in the Anchor Point State Recreation Area on Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023, in Anchor Point, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Opinion: Help ensure Alaskans have rights to use, enjoy and care for rivers

It is discouraging to see the Department of Natural Resources seemingly on track to erode the public’s ability to protect vital water interests.

A sign directing voters to the Alaska Division of Elections polling place is seen in Kenai, Alaska, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Vote no on Ballot Measure 2

A yes vote would return Alaska to party controlled closed primaries and general elections in which the candidate need not win an outright majority to be elected.

Derrick Green (Courtesy photo)
Opinion: Ballot Measure 1 will help businesses and communities thrive

It would not be good for the health and safety of my staff, my customers, or my family if workers are too worried about missing pay to stay home when they are sick.

A sign warns of the presence of endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales at the Kenai Beach in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, July 10, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Could an unnecessary gold mine drive Cook Inlet belugas extinct?

An industrial port for the proposed Johnson Tract gold mine could decimate the bay

Cassie Lawver. Photo provided by Cassie Lawver
Point of View: A clear choice

Sarah Vance has consistently stood up for policies that reflect the needs of our district

Alex Koplin. (courtesy photo)
Point of View: Ranked choice gives voters more voice

The major political parties are not in touch with all Alaskans