Dean Westlake
Dean Westlake is a former Democratic member of the Alaska House of Representatives who represented District 40 in 2017. He was first elected to the chamber in 2016. On December 15, 2017, Westlake announced his resignation, citing as the reason sexual misconduct allegations against him during late 2017. To read more, click here.
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Alaska committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Community & Regional Affairs |
| • Resources, Vice chair |
Campaign themes
2016
Westlake's campaign website highlighted the following issues:
| “ |
Subsistence Rights
Energy
Education
Budget
Housing
|
” |
| —Dean Westlake, [2] | ||
2014
Westlake's campaign website highlighted the following issues:[3]
- Excerpt: "We all know the state of Alaska gets more than 90 percent of its revenue from oil and mining tax revenues, that's directly from house District 40! We've been settling for far less than we deserve. I will push for fairness for our district if elected, I promise you that. From energy, housing transportation education, health care, energy, and Arctic issues, we have been silently going along. We been getting the short end of the stick in Juneau. It is time we stand tall, speak clearly and loudly. We need a representative who will lead the discussion, not follow. I will speak up for all of us if elected."
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2016
Elections for the Alaska House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 16, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 1, 2016.
Dean Westlake ran unopposed in the Alaska House of Representatives District 40 general election.[4][5]
| Alaska House of Representatives, District 40 General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic |  Dean Westlake (unopposed) | |
| Source: Alaska Secretary of State | ||
Dean Westlake defeated incumbent Benjamin P. Nageak in the Alaska House of Representatives District 40 Democratic Primary.[6][7]
| Alaska House of Representatives, District 40 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Dean Westlake |
50.24% | 825 | |
| Democratic | Benjamin P. Nageak Incumbent | 49.76% | 817 | |
| Total Votes | 1,642 | |||
2014
Elections for the Alaska House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on August 19, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 2, 2014. Incumbent Benjamin P. "Bennie" Nageak defeated Dean Westlake in the Democratic primary and was unchallenged in the general election.[8][9][10][11]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Bennie Nageak Incumbent |
53.2% | 1,104 |
| Dean Westlake | 46.8% | 973 |
| Total Votes | 2,077 | |
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Alaska scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2017
In 2017, the Alaska State Legislature was in session from January 17 through May 17. The legislature held a special session from May 18 to June 16, a second special session from June 16 to July 15, a one-day special session on July 27, and a fourth special session from October 23 to November 21.
- Legislators are scored by the Alaska Business Report Card on "how supportive they are of Alaska’s private business sector."[12]
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Noteworthy events
Reisgnation following sexual misconduct allegations (2017)
On December 15, 2017, Westlake announced that he would resign from the House. In his resignation letter, Westlake said, "As recent allegations of my behavior have superseded discussions about my constituents, my ability to serve them has been diminished." [13] Westlake did not specify an effective date for his resignation, bu state regulations stipulate that undated resignations become effective 10 days after the date of mailing. Westlake had previously released a statement on December 12 saying he would not resign from the state House and that his actions were not meant to be offensive.[14]
On December 6, former House staffer Olivia Garrett told news outlets that she had been harassed by Westlake in 2017 on two separate occasions. She wrote a letter to House Speaker Bryce Edgmon (D) and House Majority Leader Chris Tuck (D) in March 2017 detailing the incidents. A Westlake staffer said he was undergoing surgery and could not comment.[15]
On December 8, the Anchorage Daily News reported that additional six women, all of whom had served as legislative aides at the state capitol, had accused Westlake of sexual misconduct. Except for Olivia Garrett, none of the accusers were identified. The women said that Westlake made sexual advances on them, touched them, or made inappropriate comments about them. Four of the alleged incidents occurred after Olivia Garrett's March 2017 letter to party leaders about Westlake's behavior.[16] Edgmon and Alaska Democratic Party Chair Casey Steinau said that Westlake should resign. A Westlake aide said that he did not wish to comment on the matters.[17]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Dean + Westlake + Alaska + House"
See also
- Alaska House of Representatives
- Alaska House of Representatives District 40
- Alaska House of Representatives elections, 2014
- Alaska State Legislature
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Elect Dean Westlake, "Issues," accessed July 26, 2016
- ↑ Facebook, "Dean Westlake for House District 40," accessed July 25, 2014
- ↑ State of Alaska Division of Elections, "November 8, 2016 General Election Candidate List," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ Alaska Secretary of State, "General Election Official Results 2016," accessed December 2, 2016
- ↑ State of Alaska Division of Elections, "August 16, 2016 Primary Candidate List," accessed June 8, 2016
- ↑ State of Alaska Division of Elections, "2016 Primary Election results," accessed September 12, 2016
- ↑ Alaska Secretary of State, "Official primary candidate list," accessed June 4, 2014
- ↑ Alaska Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed January 1, 2015
- ↑ Alaska Secretary of State, "Official general election candidate list," accessed September 11, 2014
- ↑ Alaska Secretary of State, "Official General Election Results," accessed November 25, 2014
- ↑ Alaska Business Report Card, "About ABRC," accessed September 11, 2014
- ↑ Anchorage Daily News, "Rep. Westlake, embattled over sexual harassment allegations, will resign," December 15, 2017
- ↑ Anchorage Daily News, "Legislators mull way forward after Westlake refuses to resign," December 13, 2017
- ↑ KTOO Public Media, "Former legislative staffer alleges harassment by Rep. Westlake," December 6, 2017
- ↑ Anchorage Daily News, "Seven aides at Alaska Capitol say legislator made unwanted advances and comments," December 8, 2017
- ↑ Anchorage Daily News, "Alaska House leaders, head of Democratic Party call for Westlake’s resignation," December 8, 2017
