The Alaska Supreme Court today denied a request by two radical dissident members of the Alaska Redistricting Board to join a lawsuit as a separate entity from the redistricting board’s three-member majority, which has a case pending before the Supreme Court.
The ruling from the court came within an hour after the end of Sunday’s testy meeting of the Alaska Redistricting Board, during which the two radicals badgered the chair and other members, and said they’d hired a separate lawyer at their own expense to challenge the board’s legal decisions, which they said were illegal.
The Alaska Supreme Court quickly ruled that Melanie Bahnke and Nicole Borromeo’s attorney, which they said they would pay for with a fundraiser, would not be allowed to file a separate brief in the pending case. They were simply grandstanding, and the Supreme Court put a quick stop to it.
The court is expected to issue a ruling as early as Monday on the last remaining points of contention in redistricting — Eagle River, East Anchorage, and Girdwood. The urgency is due to the filing deadline for political office being just a week away, on June 1; candidates need to know what House and Senate district they live in before they file. The majority of the board decided to pair Eagle River and Girdwood to meet the demands of the court over a tough-to-draw Senate seat.
Board member Bahnke earlier on Sunday attacked board member Budd Simpson’s wife, who was not present. They have attacked Paulette Simpson before. Bahnke continued the pattern of the two Leftists on the board of picking on Budd Simpson because, while he voted with them on earlier House maps, agreeing with them on several occasions, he later voted with members Bethany Marcum and board Chair John Binkley on the Senate maps. No good deed would go unpunished by Bahnke, who targeted Budd, impugning his character, and blaming his well-known wife for influencing him. Bahnke offered no proof, just allegations.
During the Sunday meeting, Bahnke and Borromeo continued in their role as Rottweilers, gnarling and growling at the three-member majority over every decision.
But it was Bahnke, appointed by former Alaska Chief Justice Joel Bolger, who went off the rails.
Chairman Binkley cautioned Bahnke repeatedly to not make personal attacks, yet she persisted in her claims about Paulette, and then, when counseled against unprofessional behavior, pivoted and said it wasn’t her who brought it up, but it was Budd Simpson who brought it up. Budd responded to the claims by saying they were absolutely false.
“I reject the assertion that my wife or anybody else had any impact or pressured me in any way on that vote,” Budd said.
The board has met since last August to redraw House and Senate districts, and all of them have passed legal muster with the Alaska Supreme Court except the East Anchorage-Eagle River-Girdwood map that currently creates a hillside district. While the process started out in an orderly fashion, it has devolved into nastiness in recent weeks, as Democrats in Anchorage are fighting every step of the way to carve out a Senate seat that will favor their party.
In addition to Bahnke attacking Simpson, Borromeo also made false claims that the board’s own attorney had characterized board member Bethany Marcum as “nuts and crazy.” Binkley cautioned Borromeo to stop making personal attacks.
Bahnke also said on the record she will not honor the decision of the board on the maps or on the board’s legal challenge, as she considers the board process illegitimate.
It appeared that during her attacks and arguments Bahnke was being scripted by her private lawyer, Scott Kendall, who she and Borromeo hired to represent them in their failed effort to block the board majority. Kendall is a leading lawyer for Democrats.
Photo credit: Melanie Bahnke at U.S. Helsinki Commission, via Flickr.
