ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A major Alaska Native regional corporation said it supports a recall campaign against the state’s governor, a report said.
The Cook Inlet Region Inc. announced Wednesday it is backing the effort to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy, The Anchorage Daily News reported Wednesday.
Dunleavy vetoed line items equaling $444 million in reductions to Alaska’s operating budget in June.
The process of gathering signatures to recall the Republican began Aug. 1. Organizers said last week they collected more than 10,000 signatures on the first day.
The campaign needs to gather 28,501 signatures from registered voters, or 10% of the number of voters in the state’s last general election, to file an application with the state elections division.
The Cook Inlet corporation sent a message to shareholders that said the action is necessary “to protect the health, education and well-being of our shareholders and all Alaskans.”
Dunleavy’s actions outlined in the recall petition “put a stable business ecosystem at risk, making it challenging to attract investment into the state, or to attract and maintain a stable and skilled workforce and beyond,” said corporation spokesman Ethan Tyler.
The Anchorage-based corporation is the regional Native corporation for much of south-central Alaska and has about 8,800 shareholders, according to its website.
“Sadly, at all levels of government, we’ve seen the inability to have legitimate policy differences,” Dunleavy spokesman Matt Shuckerow said in an email responding to the corporation’s announcement.
“While some will focus on political gamesmanship, Gov. Dunleavy’s administration is focused on empowering Alaskans through the agenda he ran on,” Shuckerow said.
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Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com
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