She Was the Back-bidder when I bought my Kodiak boat in '93.
Anchorage Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux and 2 associates charged with election misconduct
Politics
Anchorage legislator and 2 associates charged with election misconduct
https://www.adn.com/politics/2020/0...ociates+charged+with+election+misconductJUNEAU — The Alaska Department of Law has accused state Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, R-Anchorage, and two associates of election fraud in 2018 and 2014.
The accusations were listed in charging documents filed Friday and are the result of a two-year state investigation that also involved the FBI.
According to a sworn affidavit, text messages obtained under search warrant “raised concerns that LeDoux had solicited and/or encouraged people who did not live in her district to vote in the House District 15 primary and general elections in 2018 and 2014.”
The state accuses LeDoux, her former chief of staff Lisa Simpson, and Simpson’s son, Caden Vaught, of 18 charges collectively, including five felonies and 13 misdemeanors.
“This is far from the end of the criminal justice process,” Attorney General Kevin Clarkson said during a news conference Friday.
[Earlier coverage: 17 registered voters in a single mobile home? New questions raised in East Anchorage legislative race.]
John Skidmore, head of the state’s criminal division, said all three have been issued summonses. It wasn’t immediately clear when their initial court appearances would be.
LeDoux was in the state Capitol in Juneau on Friday and declined comment.
The charges will be forwarded to a grand jury, said Skidmore. Asked whether additional charges will be filed, he said that investigations will continue but he doesn’t have a “crystal ball.”
Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, R-Anchorage, on the first day of the legislative session on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019 at the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau. (Loren Holmes / ADN)
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Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, R-Anchorage, on the first day of the legislative session on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019 at the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau. (Loren Holmes / ADN)
The investigation began under the administration of Gov. Bill Walker and continued under the administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy, the charging documents say.
LeDoux, though a registered Republican, has previously been criticized by the state’s Republican Party, which endorsed other Republicans in races against her. LeDoux has filed a letter of intent to seek re-election this year.
Asked whether political considerations factored into the timing of charges, Clarkson said, “No. Politics has played no part in this whatsoever.”
According to charging documents, state investigators obtained text messages from LeDoux’s phone and submitted them to outside review by the U.S. Department of Justice. That review finished in February, and charging documents indicate that investigators conducted followup interviews as late as last week.
“Multiple text messages were found that showed that LeDoux requested at least two people to vote in her district — despite their having told LeDoux that they no longer lived in the district,” charging documents state, referring to the 2014 election.
The documents quote a pair of messages sent to a prospective voter the day before the 2014 election.
“Dot, don’t worry about the legality of this,” one says.
The investigation into LeDoux began two years ago after elections officials became suspicious of activity in House District 15 during the 2018 Republican primary. Before the vote, the division received absentee ballot applications from dead voters, and after the vote, officials learned at least two absentee ballots were cast in the names of people who said they didn’t vote.
At one Muldoon mobile home park in the district, a single trailer was listed as the home of at least 17 registered Republican voters. Another trailer had at least 14 registered voters.
No charges mention those facts, and Skidmore said he could not reveal why.
The Alaska Division of Elections ultimately set aside 26 ballots, all cast in favor of LeDoux, who won the primary by more than 100 votes.
LeDoux was on the floor of the Alaska House of Representatives when the documents were released and returned to her office during a news conference called by the Department of Law.
She declined to answer questions in the hallways of the Capitol and said she would issue a written statement.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
About this Author
James Brooks
Juneau-based James Brooks covers state government, the Alaska Legislature and general assignments for the Daily News. He previously reported and edited for the Juneau Empire, Kodiak Daily Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
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