Republicans want to unseat fellow GOP Rep. David Eastman to help keep Alaska House majority

To keep control of the Alaska House of Representatives, prominent Republicans are campaigning to unseat far-right Wasilla Republican Rep. David Eastman.

Eastman’s challenger, fellow Republican Jubilee Underwood, has seen a flurry of endorsements and donations in recent weeks. Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Mat-Su Republican Sens. Shelley Hughes and Mike Shower have all said they’re backing Underwood.

The 40-seat Alaska House is currently controlled by a Republican-led majority. The Nov. 5 election is expected to deliver another narrowly divided House between supporters of a Republican majority, and supporters of a bipartisan coalition majority.

House Republicans have largely been unwilling to serve in a caucus with Eastman, arguing that he’s an obstructionist and likely to attack and deride his GOP colleagues. Republican legislators say he takes an uncompromising approach on issues such as abortion that make him all but impossible to work with. As a result, Eastman has served as a caucus of one.

Shower, a conservative Wasilla Republican, said that he does not want to criticize Eastman personally. But he said that Eastman has been “toxic” in the House, and that “most Republicans don’t want to work with him.”

“It’s not about ideology or principles. It’s not even necessarily about votes. It’s about the reliability of that person sticking with the caucus on the bigger issues and even just daily housekeeping,” Shower said on the “Michael Dukes Show.”

In an interview, Eastman was critical of the current Republican majority. He watched the caucus form last year, but he said: “I really couldn’t find much substance that they agreed on. I couldn’t find much of an agenda.”

But he did not elaborate on an agenda he would support, other than giving a voice to his constituents and blocking new taxes.

Eastman said that if a majority of Republicans are elected to the House, then they should govern that chamber — him included.

“I think the idea that we’re going to pick friends and pick who can be considered part of the Republicans in the Legislature — that’s not for us to decide. That’s something that the voters decided,” he said.

House Republicans have long argued that Democrats quietly support Eastman getting reelected because so many Republicans don’t want to work with him. Anchorage Democratic Rep. Andy Josephson echoed that sentiment in a Tuesday interview.

“I think that he is a benefit to Democrats and independents. I think he is. And to moderate Republicans, even, who wish to form a coalition with Democrats and independents,” he said.

Josephson, who has served in the Legislature since 2013, said that Eastman is “an enigma” and “a lone wolf.”

“If he took up tennis, he should just play singles. He should not play doubles. Because in doubles, you have a teammate,” Josephson said.

‘Ripped off’

Hughes, a conservative Republican, has recently been scathing of Eastman on the radio and on social media. She said that Wasilla “is getting ripped off” by having Eastman as a representative. He has introduced dozens of bills, but none have passed in his four terms, she said.

“Rep. Eastman has not achieved anything that I can think of in eight years,” she said on Dukes’ show in October.

Republicans have routinely have been reticent to criticize him. His loyal supporters are known to passionately defend him if they feel he is being attacked. Hughes said Eastman’s supporters are “strangely devout” and think he’s a “saint.”

“They’re like a cult. I swear they think he can do no wrong,” she said in an interview last week.

Eastman has been controversial in the Legislature since he was first elected in 2016. He was censured in 2017 for suggesting that women in rural Alaska try to get pregnant in order to get free trips to the city for abortions.

Last year, he was censured again after he asked during a committee hearing whether there could be economic benefits from the deaths of abused children.

Eastman watched former President Donald Trump’s speech in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, but there is no evidence Eastman took part in the attack on the U.S. Capitol to overturn the 2020 election for Trump.

Eastman faced a court challenge after a former constituent said his lifetime membership in the far-right Oath Keepers made him ineligible to hold office in Alaska. An Anchorage judge ruled in his favor, allowing him to return to the House.

However, Republican opposition to Eastman has largely been because he has been perceived to be a hostile and unreliable colleague. In 2020, House Republicans campaigned against Eastman. But he won the primary, and cruised to reelection.

Eastman said Shower and Hughes’ disapproval of him for not working well with other Republicans is “disingenuous.” Both have faced similar criticisms from Republicans in the Senate majority, he said.

Late surge

Underwood describes herself as a conservative who supports “traditional virtues.” She opposes abortion, and supports restrictions on transgender girls participating in school sports.

She said one of her top priorities includes implementing “universal school choice,” which would see the state give parents money to send their children to public or private schools.

As president of the Mat-Su Borough School Board, Underwood voted for a policy in 2022 to prohibit transgender students from using the bathroom of their choice at school. That policy is being challenged in court.

Hughes has endorsed Underwood and said she has known her for around 20 years. She said that Underwood would be a solid and reliable member of a Republican House majority.

But her campaign got off to a slow start. Eastman received 62% of the vote in August’s primary election, compared to 38% for Underwood.

In recent weeks, her fundraising and campaigning have ramped up. She reported raising $22,000 in a recent 11-day period — half of her fundraising total since March. The Alaska Republican Party gave her $3,000, along with $1,000 from the Mat-Su Republican Women’s Club.

Eastman reports having raised almost $24,000 over the same 11-day period. His biggest check was $5,000 from Caleb Sternhagen, who was listed online as the owner of a Wasilla construction company.

The Alaska Republican Party may be funding Underwood’s campaign, but leaders of the GOP’s district committee in Wasilla have endorsed Eastman.

“Alaskans who live in District 27 have been punished repeatedly for continuing to elect as our representative a candidate who accurately reflects the will of our district,” said Eli Graber, the GOP district chair.

Eastman has also touted an endorsement from Michael Flynn, who served as national security adviser in the Trump administration, and was pardoned by Trump for twice lying to the FBI.

Underwood suggested her late surge in support was because Republican legislators are “finally” coming out and talking about their experiences working with Eastman. Additionally, she said that Republicans think her experience serving on the school board makes her a strong candidate.

“I feel like they do have hope, maybe. So, yeah, it’s been wild,” she said.

Eastman also spoke about his level of optimism about being reelected. He said it depends on who you ask.

“If we’re judging based on other politicians and those in Juneau, I’ve got no chance. And if we’re judging based on the voters in my district, then I’ve got a lot of support,” he said.