Who is Lora Reinbold? Alaska lawmaker travels 40 hours by car and ferry to vote after banned by sole airlines
A GOP state senator in Alaska has recently made the headlines for some bizarre reasons. She took a journey by car and ferry that lasted nearly 40 hours to reach the state capitol after the route’s sole air carrier banned her over a dispute about mask rules. On Sunday, April 25, Republican Senator Lora Reinbold covered the long journey from Anchorage to state Juneau covering more than 500 miles just in time to vote against a key bill that extended The Last Frontier’s pandemic-time emergency.
Reinbold was last week caught on camera arguing with employees of Alaska Airlines after they asked her to cover her nose with the surgical mask that she was wearing. Reinbold, a resident of Eagle River who represents the G district in the state senate, said in a statement that she was ‘respectful’ of the carrier’s policy and suggested that a ban was imposed on her to prevent her from voting against the bill. Though the GOP is in majority in the Alaska senate (13-7), Reinbold is the only Republican member of the chamber who is unaffiliated with a caucus organization since she was ejected from the Republican-led majority caucus in March 2015.
Whoa! A source just sent this video of Sen. Reinbold at the Juneau airport. She was refusing to wear the mask and the police got involved! She’s also filming @AlaskaAir employees and asking for their names. Hyper loose. A second video is below. #akleg pic.twitter.com/EfaoSU3K9k
— The Alaska Landmine (@alaskalandmine) April 22, 2021
RELATED ARTICLES
After the video of her arguments with the carrier’s staff members surfaced on social media, the airline told the local press that the lawmaker had been banned from flights indefinitely. Reinbold though said she was never informed about it and planned to appeal against it. “I was reasonable with all Alaska Airlines employees,' she said, also noting that she has ‘MVP gold’ status with the carrier. “I inquired about mask exemption with uptight employees at the counter,” she added.
Reinbold senses plot to stop her from voting
"The timing of complaint and a specific employee is of keen interest. The most divisive disaster bill hb76 is up Monday. I have been assured this be looked into,” the lawmaker said.
On Sunday, Reinbold posted a picture of herself along with her husband Eric on the deck of a ferry as it approached Juneau. She took a dig at the air carrier to write: “Alaska I went to new heights to serve you & have a new appreciation for the marine ferry system. I am keenly aware of the monopoly in air transport to Juneau that needs reviewed!”
“Please thank my husband for giving up his birthday to make a long unexpected trip to Juneau by road/ferry system!” she added. The exact route that the Reinbolds took was not clear but generally ferries that depart from Whittier, located about an hour’s drive from Anchorage, takes about 36 hours to reach Juneau, as per their timetables. Alaska Airlines flights, on the other hand, take only an hour-and-half to cover the distance.
“Nothing could get in the way to be in the Capitol to fight [the] executive branch infringement on the legislature & defending your rights by trying to stop HB76 which is on the Senate floor tomorrow!” Reinbold, who appeared on the Senate floor of the state legislature on Monday, April 26, wearing an unusual plastic mask covering her nose and mouth, said.
Who is Lora Reinbold?
Born in Fairbanks in 1964, Reinbold served as a member of Alaska House between 2013 and 2019 where she represented District 26. Her family moved from Clear to Anchorage when she was five. Reinbold studied at East Anchorage High School from where she graduated in 1982. She earned her BS in business administration from Oral Roberts University, Oklahoma, in 1987 besides attending the University of Alaska Anchorage.
Reinbold, who is a mother-of-two, worked as an operations manager at Medical Park Family Care and an office manager at NME Hospitals, district manager for Bristol Myers Squibb and salesperson for Johnson & Johnson/Centecor Pharmaceuticals before taking up a career in politics.
As a member of the tea party, Reinbold’s biggest controversial moment in politics came in March 2015 when the GOP-led Alaska House penalized her for breaching the party line and breaking ranks. Reinbold voted against an operating budget worth $5.4 billion, saying it was not conservative enough to earn the GOP’s backlash. Her co-chairmanship of a committee (House Joint Armed Services Committee) and most committee assignments were taken away.