An Alaska lawmaker suing to challenge the results of his August primary defeat said on Wednesday he no longer wants to participate in the lawsuit.
“I can’t do anything with it,” said Rep. Benjamin Nageak, D-Barrow, in testimony given Wednesday morning in Anchorage Superior Court. “I need help, and I think there’s people out there who can do that for me, to speak on my behalf.”
Nageak testified by phone from Massachusetts.
According to official, recounted results from the Alaska Division of Elections, fellow Democrat Dean Westlake defeated Nageak 825-817 in the House District 40 primary. That district encompasses the North Slope and Northwest Arctic boroughs.
No Republicans have filed to run in the district, meaning that whoever wins the primary wins a seat in the Legislature.
Since late last week, Nageak attorney Tim McKeever has filed a confusing array of motions that first withdrew Nageak from the lawsuit, then reversed that decision and left him as one of the plaintiffs.
Under Alaska law, an election can be challenged legally by “a defeated candidate or 10 qualified voters”.
The original complaint against the state listed four district 40 voters in addition to Nageak. In an amendment dated Sept. 23, Nageak was removed from the lawsuit and seven district residents added as plaintiffs. Also added was Randolph “Randy” Ruderich, the former chairman of the Alaska Republican Party, who does not live in District 40.
That amendment was subsequently reversed, and in court documents, Nageak remains the primary plaintiff alongside four North Slope voters.
In an order filed late Wednesday, Judge Andrew Guidi, who is overseeing the case, said Nageak’s testimony “raises the issue of whether Mr. Nageak is a party plaintiff.”
The judge said that if Nageak’s involvement remains confused, he will have to testify again at 9 a.m. Thursday.
If the court accepts the plaintiffs’ substition, the lawsuit can move forward without Nageak’s involvement.
Under state law, the plaintiffs face a steep challenge in overturning the results of August’s primary. They must not only prove mistakes, they must prove those mistakes represented “malconduct, fraud, or corruption on the part of an election official sufficient to change the result of the election.”
Wednesday was the second full day of a trial held in an Anchorage courtroom, and the trial is expected to continue through the end of the week.
Guidi has said he wants to reach a verdict in the non-jury trial by Oct. 3 in order to allow the Division of Elections time to prepare for early voting ahead of November’s general election.
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