Art Chance has been hired by the Dunleavy administration as a policy advisor, reporting to the Deputy Commissioner of Administration. This is peculiar given his epic Facebook rants in which he regularly tells people to “fuck” themselves and threatens to “fuck” the wives or girlfriends of people he disagrees with.

He made the post below yesterday on his Facebook page. Apparently he’s “going dark.” Before he does that I am going to shine some light on Mr. Chance.

If you follow politics in Alaska, even a little, chances are you have come across Art Chance’s sexually aggressive, unhinged comments on Facebook. Art is fond of phrases like “fuck off and die” and “lefty punk,” threatens physical violence, and routinely threatens to “fuck” women. He recently said on a post about Senator Kamala Harris (D – California) running for president, “It’s going to be a lot of work to screw her way into that job.”

Think of your nutty uncle or grandpa who loves to go off on “liberal snowflakes” on Facebook. Then imagine he is hired by the Dunleavy administration for a critical policy role in state government. Forget the Me Too movement: the stuff Art says on Facebook would have been unacceptable in the 1980s.

Art is a retired labor relations director for the State of Alaska. Let’s just say he is not a big fan of labor unions. The appointment is interesting considering how much he loves to rail about state employee pay and double dipping. Which is funny because Art is now double dipping by simultaneously receiving a state pension and working for the Dunleavy administration.

He is a regular contributor on Must Read Alaska, the website run by Alaska Republican Party mouthpiece Suzanne Downing. Here is his biography from the website:

Senior Contributor Art Chance is a retired Director of Labor Relations for the State of Alaska, formerly of Juneau and now living in Anchorage. He is the author of the book, “Red on Blue, Establishing a Republican Governance,” available at Amazon. He only writes for Must Read Alaska when poked with a stick. Chance coined the phrase “hermaphrodite Administration” to describe a governor who is both a Republican and a Democrat, and strangely neither.

Art’s book, “Red on Blue, Establishing a Republican Governance,” provides insight into how he thinks. Below is an excerpt from a chapter titled “Take out the Trash,” in which Art provides advice to an incoming Republican governor. One noteworthy passage reads,

“After allowing yourself a moment to shed a tear for the lost hopes, dreams, girlfriends, boats, and houses, fire everyone in the government that you have a colorable legal right to fire and maybe a few more just to show that you can… Do it within ten seconds of your hand coming off the Bible.”

I wonder where Tuckerman Babcock got the idea to send out all those resignation letters, and ask for a loyalty pledge, from exempt and partially exempt state employees…

Here are a few examples of some of the stuff Mr. Chance has said over the years. If you happen to have any other good examples – and I know many of you do – send them to me and I may update the article with them.

I will share one story about an interaction I had with Mr. Chance a few years back. When I was running for state senate in 2016 Art frequently commented on my posts. Turns out he lives in my district. I heard he was a former labor relations director for the State of Alaska and I was curious to meet him in person. Surprisingly, he agreed and we met at Eddies Sports Bar. Art’s drink that night was Chivas on the rocks. After his fifth one I asked him if he ever worried about running into the people he insults or threatens in real life. He told me, “I’m a small guy and an old man, but if anyone ever fucks with me I have this.” He then opened his coat to show me a holstered pistol. It is illegal to carry a firearm in a bar in Alaska. I was like, “Uh, well we’re definitely cool, Art.”

It is unclear exactly what his role will be in the Dunleavy administration, but special appointments are typically well-compensated and highly influential. Art Chance’s online threats and lewd comments are infamous in political circles, and it is unlikely that the Dunleavy administration was entirely unaware of them. In his State of the State address last night, Governor Dunleavy talked about the sexual assault epidemic in our State and said it must end. What does it say when his administration hires a man who routinely writes things like “I’d take her away and give her the best fucking of her life.”

Update: This screen shot was just sent to me by a reader. Add racist to the list.

Update: These screen shots were just sent to me by another reader. Add homophobic to the list.