LETTER: Dunleavy has a history of quitting

To the editor:

I’m scratching my head wondering what kind of person quits their job right when the tough decisions on the future of our state rested with him and 59 other Alaska legislators. Former state senator Mike Dunleavy, spurned by Republican legislators and stripped of all committee assignments when he quit his Republican caucus last year, has now abruptly quit his senate seat to spend 11 months running for Governor as a Republican.

This is a guy who said he wanted a billion dollars in budget cuts, but never offered concrete suggestions on what to cut. Then he screamed about saving the permanent fund, but his half-baked plan would have killed my permanent fund dividend in the long run. While in office for five years, Dunleavy was the lead sponsor of 19 bills or proposed constitutional amendments. None became law.

Wow. Just what we need –a quitter and ineffective former lawmaker for Governor.

Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll place my money on a guy who walks the walk when it comes to working every day for Alaskans. Walker never gives up. He never gives up on closing our fiscal gap, on dealing with the opioid crisis head on, with pushing forward on the economic front with expanded, responsible resource development on the North Slope, or forging new frontiers with an Alaskan gas line.

Rather than pledge allegiance to a political party platform, I can count on Gov. Walker to make decisions based on what’s right for all Alaskans.

He works hard to reach consensus with Republicans, Democrats and Independents who care about Alaska. Walker rolls up his shirtsleeves and works with rural and urban local leaders who care about making their communities healthier and safer. He works well with our Congressional Delegation. And there has been progress on a fiscal plan, on streamlining government services, on protecting the Permanent Fund, and building a better Alaska for all of us. This year it’s critical that this hard work continue. This is no time for quitters.

Mr. Dunleavy has a history of quitting when the going gets tough. And during the next 11 months, he'll be doing a lot of yakking about what he will do next year. I don’t buy it. I stick with Walker because he’ll be on the job, every day, putting Alaska first, not his campaign. His integrity, hard work and results makes him my choice to lead Alaska.

— Johnny Schaffer

Valdez