It appears that the days of Rep. David Eastman spreading divisive, inflammatory and sometimes-racist rhetoric in the halls of the Alaska Legislature is set to come to an end.
According to results from Tuesday’s election, the Wasilla Republican lags Mat-Su School Board President Jubilee Underwood, a Republican, by about three percentage points. Underwood’s 51%-47.7% lead comes on the heels of concerted effort by Republicans to oust Eastman, who has been a long-time source of frustration for the GOP.
Eastman has regularly made headlines since winning a seat in the Alaska Legislature in 2016, including suggestions that women living in rural, predominantly Alaska Native communities are “glad” to get pregnant so they can get Medicaid-funded trips for an abortion and later wondered whether the death of abused children could be a “benefit to society” because they would not rely on social services later in life. A member of the anti-government Oath Keepers militia group, Eastman also faced efforts to disqualify him under the state’s Red Scare-era disloyalty laws but a judge ultimately ruled that he should be allowed to hold office.