Mike Dunleavy

Upon taking office in December 2018, Dunleavy and his transition chief Tuckerman Babcock asked approximately 800 at-will state employees to submit resignation letters; those who refused were fired. Federal courts ruled in multiple subsequent lawsuits that the practice violated the First Amendment rights of fired employees and amounted to unconstitutional patronage. Judge Sedwick denied qualified immunity to Dunleavy and Babcock personally in at least one case, finding they should have known they were violating constitutional rights. The state of Alaska paid approximately $930,000 in settlements across three cases — two API psychiatrists ($495,000), Arts Council employee Keren Lowell ($85,000 for retaliation after she criticized the governor), and Assistant Attorney General Libby Bakalar ($350,000) — without admissions of wrongdoing.

Independent counsel for the Alaska State Personnel Board found that mailers and online ads paid for with state funds by the governor's office, praising two Anchorage Republican legislators (Sen. Mia Costello and Rep. Josh Revak) who had signaled reelection plans, served a partisan political purpose in violation of Alaska's Executive Branch Ethics Act. In September 2020 Dunleavy settled the ethics complaints by reimbursing the state $2,800 from personal funds and agreeing to staff ethics training. The investigator attributed the conduct to haste and inadequate supervision rather than improper intent.

In response to a February 2019 Alaska Supreme Court decision striking down state restrictions on Medicaid funding of abortion, Governor Dunleavy used his line-item veto to cut $334,700 from the Alaska Court System budget in 2019 and again in 2020. In October 2020, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Jennifer Henderson ruled the vetoes violated the separation of powers doctrine in the Alaska Constitution, writing that the governor had 'exacted a monetary punishment of the judiciary for the very performance of its constitutional duties' and that the action threatened judicial independence. A December 2020 order required the state to restore the funds, which the Dunleavy administration did without appealing.

The Alaska Personnel Board's independent investigator found reasonable grounds to conclude that two mailers produced by the governor's office — attacking legislators who had filed paperwork for reelection — violated state ethics law prohibiting partisan political use of state resources. Three ethics complaints had been filed stemming from an advertising campaign costing over $35,000. The investigator determined only two mailers were problematic. Dunleavy settled, paying $2,800 to the state, without admitting wrongdoing.

Two Alaska watchdog groups filed a complaint with APOC in 2022 alleging that the Republican Governors Association funneled $3 million to A Stronger Alaska — a super PAC created just before new donor-disclosure laws took effect — and that the PAC illegally coordinated with Dunleavy's campaign through shared operative Brett Huber, who simultaneously held roles in both organizations. APOC found 'reasonable cause' to believe coordination occurred but deferred a final ruling until after the election. Both the RGA and A Stronger Alaska defied APOC subpoenas for years; courts ordered compliance through January 2024 and October 2025 Alaska Supreme Court rulings. A final merits determination and any penalty remain pending.