David Eastman is a wingnut from Orange County (California) who was first elected to the Alaska state House in 2016, where he represents a chunk of Matanuska-Susitna, including Wasilla, Meadow Lakes and part of Houston. He was kicked off the House Ethics Committee in 2020 for… violating House ethics. Last year, though, he was reelected with 52% of the vote.
He’s an anti-Choice fanatic and, in fact tries adding anti-Choice amendments to non-controversial bills. During his first term he had some bad press for declaring that native Alaskan women in villages try to get pregnant on purpose to get a "free trip to the city" for abortion, claiming there are too many "incentives" to get an abortion. "We have folks who try to get pregnant in this state so that they can get a free trip to the city, and we have folks who want to carry their baby past the point of being able to have an abortion in this state so that they can have a free trip to Seattle."
A member of the Oath Keepers, his colleagues in the legislature generally hate him and he’s considered one of the most vile racists in government. Needless to say, he was in DC for the J-6 coup attempt and then tried blaming the insurrection on Antifa. Members of both parties in the legislature have tried to get him disqualified from running for reelection and then expelled. He was also the only member of the Alaska legislature to side with Russia over Ukraine in a non-binding resolution supporting aid to Kyiv. Like I said, all his colleagues hate his guts.
And, now they hate him even more. The supposed pro-life hypocrite “asked a series of question during a Monday House Judiciary Committee hearing on adverse childhood experiences— such as physical and sexual abuse on children or growing up in a household marred by domestic violence— and how they can negatively affect a person throughout their lives… Eastman said that he had heard an argument, on occasion, that when child abuse is fatal, it could economically benefit a society. ‘It can be argued, periodically, that it’s actually a cost savings because that child is not going to need any of those government services that they might otherwise be entitled to receive and need based on growing up in this type of environment,’ he said.” Watch:
Sean Maguire reported that “Some House Republicans told the Daily News that they were appalled by Eastman’s comments, but they would not say that on the record. Eastman has a loyal and vocal band of far-right supporters who are known to call Republican offices and fight on his behalf when they feel he is being demonized.”
I spoke with some of the candidates for the Virginia legislature who Blue America is backing, in the hope of being to hold of the determined anti-Choice state governor. Jessica Anderson is running for a delegate seat against an anti-Choice Republican incumbent and when I asked her about Eastman yesterday, she was already fully up to speed on the whole thing! Here’s what she told me: “The recent comments by Alaska Representative Eastman, on the death of children as a result of child abuse, saying, ‘it is actually a cost savings because that child is not going to need any of those government services’, is grotesque. This is especially alarming when we acknowledge that Alaska is ranked #2 of states, with the highest rate of child abuse, equaling great risk to so many young lives. This is also the same Rep., in 2017, who claimed women were intentionally getting pregnant to travel to Seattle or Anchorage for some type of "abortion holiday.” Eastman, and the Republican party, are yet again proving they are not pro-life, they are anti-choice and in many instances pro-death, if it helps their bottom line. Don't be fooled, Eastman said the quiet part out loud, but Republicans nationwide, including in the Commonwealth of Virginia, are waiting for the opportunity to remove bodily autonomy rights, as well as cut state access to the same women and families they force to go through that pregnancy. Remember, Virginia is has every General Assembly seat on the ballot this November, and we cannot be complacent.”
Branden Riley is also running for a House seat in northern Virginia. “I absolutely despise, those who rant about pro-life, but have no conscious nor concern about the long-term welfare of the child,” he told me when I showed him the Anchorage Daily News report. “It's as if they view the child as a another number or a another dollar sign in someone's agenda.”
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