(Photo by Wesley Early/Alaska Public Media)

A bipartisan effort to recall Governor Mike Dunleavy kicked off in parts of Alaska on August 1st. Volunteers in Haines and Skagway collected signatures over the weekend.

Signature gatherers with clipboards were stationed at locations along Main Street at the First Friday Art Walk in Haines as part of a statewide effort to recall Governor Mike Dunleavy. In about two hours they collected 259 signatures.

Dana Hallett was stationed by the Moosterious Emporium, a local bookstore.

“We know that there’s going to be a lot of traffic tonight,” he said.

“And although we’re not affiliated with the First Friday, we took this as an opportunity to to gather signatures and the response has been very positive.”

He’s right about the traffic. Main Street was busy and after just about an hour, he had over thirty signatures.

“Personally, I have almost completed two pages. And we’ve got I think about eight of us out tonight’s gathering signatures,” he said.

A few people turned him down. They weren’t registered to vote in the state, and that’s a requirement. So is signing in person.

The recall effort is in part a response to the Governor’s stringent cuts to state spending. His line item vetoes slashed about $400 million from the state budget. Organizers of the movement cite misuse of state funds, violation of separation of powers, and incompetence among the grounds for recall.

“That’s not okay, that’s not what Alaska’s about,” said Jojo Goerner. She owns the bookstore. She says she’s fine with the petitioners outside—she signed it herself.

Volunteers collected signatures in Skagway, too. Jeff Brady tabled for the recall effort at the Blues, Brews, and BBQ festival on Saturday night.

“I had initially thought the recall effort would would be kind of a wash, really, but then I read a lot about who was behind it. And there’s some very prominent Alaskans of all across the political spectrum,” Brady said.

He says that as an independent voter, that appealed to him. They collected over 100 signatures on Saturday and continued collecting through Monday morning. He says Skagway sent nearly 200 signatures to the Recall Dunleavy organizers.

Brady says he’ll keep volunteering as the recall effort progresses. He says the recall effort is the only way to make people’s voices heard.

“I mean, the state has already made a lot of cuts, trying to get it fiscal house in order. But to pay a $3,000 dividend and then just wipe out a substantial portion of the budget that affects people young and old is just… I just think it’s downright sinful,” he said.

The statewide effort garnered over 10,000 signatures on its first day last week. The grassroots movement needs over 28,000 signatures to get a state-recognized petition. For a special election, they’ll still need a quarter of the electorate—about 70,000 voters—to sign it.