STILL ELIGIBLE

GOP Lawmaker Can Run for Re-Election Despite Oath Keepers Membership

Alaska state Rep. David Eastman attended the Jan. 6 rally in D.C. that preceded the violent insurrection.

A Republican lawmaker in Alaska who was outed as a “lifetime member” of the Oath Keepers last year will be allowed to run for re-election despite challenges to his candidacy over his ties to the far-right group. The Alaska Division of Elections said Wednesday that after a review of 24 challenges to state Rep. David Eastman’s candidacy, the “preponderance of evidence supports his eligibility,” the Associated Press reported. Challenges against Eastman were filed in connection with a provision of the state’s constitution that bars from public office anyone who aids or belongs to any group that calls for “the overthrow by force or violence of the government of the United States or of the State.” Eastman has admitted that he attended the Jan. 6, 2021, rally in Washington, D.C. to protest the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 win in the presidential election, but he said he didn’t take part in the violent riot at the Capitol that ensued. Several members of the Oath Keepers have been charged with seditious conspiracy for their role in the insurrection.