Former Alaska Rep. LeDoux’s election misconduct trial delayed until November

Former Alaska Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux’s long-delayed election misconduct trial was delayed again Wednesday, and is now scheduled to start in November.

LeDoux was accused by state prosecutors in 2020 of encouraging people who did not live in her Anchorage House district to vote for her in the 2014 and 2018 primary and general elections. She faces 12 charges, including five felonies. Her trial had been scheduled to start Thursday.

Kevin Fitzgerald, LeDoux’s attorney, requested the delay due partly to new state evidence being obtained days before the trial had been scheduled to start. Jenna Gruenstein, chief assistant attorney general at the Office of Special Prosecutions, apologized to the court on Tuesday for the late filing that included interviews with law enforcement officers.

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby said the delay was justified “given the way the late discovery has been described, it would be difficult to come up with any other remedy.” Fitzgerald said he had a separate “personal reason” for requesting the delay that Saxby said was “compelling.”

John Skidmore, a deputy attorney general, said the late discovery consisted of some recorded statements “that had been summarized in reports that neither the prosecution nor the defense had obtained.” He said that warranted a delay of only a “few days.”

“The delay to November was based on a different issue, a personal issue presented by the defense counsel,” Skidmore continued to say by email.

The Alaska Department of Law did not respond to a request for comment on why the discovery had been obtained so late.

Two misdemeanor charges against LeDoux were dismissed in 2021 related to the 2014 elections. The judge’s 2021 order said the state filed its case too late to bring charges against LeDoux.

Evidence presented to the court Tuesday centered on text message exchanges regarding the 2014 elections. Gruenstein argued the former Republican state lawmaker had encouraged people to vote for her, despite them not residing in her district.

Bonnie Bailey, who described herself as a longtime family friend of LeDoux’s, was called as the state’s witness on Tuesday. Bailey said she didn’t believe LeDoux was trying to violate state laws by suggesting she only change her voter registration after the election.

Saxby said he would issue a decision quickly on whether the evidence related to the 2014 elections was admissible.

LeDoux’s trial has been delayed repeatedly, due partly to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her former campaign aide Lisa (Vaught) Simpson pleaded guilty earlier in the month to one misdemeanor charge of election misconduct.

LeDoux has not changed her not guilty plea, or been offered a plea agreement by the state, Fitzgerald said.

Saxby ordered for LeDoux’s trial to now start on Nov. 18, and for a status hearing to take place in October. Gruenstein and Fitzgerald told the court they expected the trial to last between one and two weeks.