Insufficient

Who could have seen that coming? Attorney General Kevin Clarkson declared the stated reasons for a recall of Gov. Michael Dunleavy are insufficient, “failing to meet factual and legal requirements under the controlling statutes.”

Director of the Division of Elections Gail Fenumiai then notified the sponsors that a certification of their recall application was kaput.

“I asked the legal team to do a deep dive into the Alaska constitution, discussions at the constitutional convention, the statutes, legislative history, and case law, including looking at authorities from other states, in order to understand what standards must be met in the recall context,” Clarkson said in a statement. “As a matter of law, recall cannot be premised upon disagreements with the elected official’s policies.

“In order to meet the ground for neglect of duty, which is the only legally pertinent ground here, applicants must show an inability, willful neglect, or outright illegal intent on the part of the elected official.”

They did not. It was all bogus from the beginning. Dunleavy’s only crime that we can see is that he did not do what the Left wanted, when it wanted and how it wanted – and – horrors! – he moved to slash state spending so coveted by Democrats, far too many Republicans and trough-dipping, big-government advocates.

The real problem is that instead of Democrat Mark Begich or former Republican-cum-independent-cum-undeclared-cum-independent-again Gov. Bill Walker, Dunleavy won the governor’s race.

We know the recall bunch can drag all this out by appealing and whining and delaying as they try to make their pie-in-the-sky claims an issue in next year’s election – and it is political, make no mistake – but we hate to see them further embarrass themselves.

It would be nice to talk about real issues.