Author: alaskaadmin

Under low, gray clouds that spit occasional rain sprinkles, candidates running for office in Alaska stood on street corners in Anchorage on Tuesday waving signs, rallying supporters and trying to win the attention and votes of passing motorists. Tuesday’s primary election activities continued what is a longstanding tradition in Alaska politics, with the major statewide candidates gathering in the largest city to make their final pushes for votes.

Both Begiches — gubernatorial candidate Tom Begich and incumbent U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III — spent part of the morning at the busy intersection of the Seward Highway and Northern Lights Boulevard. Tom, the Begich running for governor, is a Democrat and former state senator who represented an Anchorage district that is one of the most left-leaning in the state; Nick, his nephew, is a Republican and ally of President Donald Trump.

They and their sign-waving supporters stood on opposite sides of the street.

It’s an unusual situation, said the younger Begich, who was in a group that also included Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and his wife, Julie Sullivan.

“To my knowledge, there has never been an election in which two members of the same family have run for statewide office in the same cycle for different parties,” Nick Begich said.

Still, he believes the voters know the difference between him and his uncle, he said.

“You know, Tom’s running his own campaign, and he’s got his own perspective. We have different issues that we think we touch on and at the end of the day, I’m focused on federal issues. And the governor’s race is very crowded right now,” the younger Begich said.

“I think most Alaskans know who’s who,” he added.

Less than two miles to the west along Northern Lights Boulevard, gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins was at the Minnesota Drive intersection, waving to morning commuters.

Kreiss-Tomkins, a Democrat and former state House member from Sitka who refers to himself as JKT, was in friendly territory. West Anchorage is a reliably Democratic part of Alaska’s biggest city.

Campaigning statewide was a fun experience, Kreiss-Tomkins said.

“The campaign has felt like a love letter to Alaska,” he said. He mentioned some places and events he visited: the Hmong Harvest Festival in Anchorage, the Fourth of July and Mount Marathon festivities in Seward and a 450-mile trip along the Yukon River. “We’ve seen all sides of this incredible state. So it’s been awesome,” he said.

Asked if there might be a reshuffling among candidates who wind up in the top four positions, with possible withdrawals to consolidate support in the general election, Kreiss-Tomkins suggested that might happen.

“It’s so hard to say. I think it just depends on the results. People are going to talk and might try to forge coalitions. I’ve personally spoken to some other candidates, and channels of communication are open,” he said.

Former Gov. Bill Walker, an independent who is now seeking to return to the office he held from 2014 to 2018, refrained from predicting that he would be among the top candidates advancing to the general election.

“We’ll respect the process and we’ll work with whoever moves on,” he said.

Even if he is not among the top vote-getters, it was important for him to run to call attention to serious issues, he said after casting his ballot at a church in West Anchorage’s Turnagain neighborhood. Those issues are primarily the state’s unsustainable fiscal practice of living off its depleted savings, he said, along with the looming Cook Inlet natural gas shortfall that will affect the state’s most populous region.

Walker took a big political hit for reducing the Alaska Permanent Fund dividend in 2016. But that was a time when the state had a $4 billion shortfall and when oil prices were $26 a barrel, he said.

He and his administration took on “the hard stuff,” he said. “We kind of ran into the fire instead of running from it,” he said. Without using names, he said other candidates are making unrealistic promises about good times to come. However, “it’s not what you do in the good times. It’s what you do in the tough times,” he said.

There was some light-heartedness on the streets, as well.

Supporters of independent gubernatorial candidate Meda DeWitt wore costumes as they stood on the Seward-Minnesota corner opposite Kreiss-Tomkins and his supporters. DeWitt supporters were dressed as a blue and white shark, a white polar bear and a pink axolotl, which is a type of salamander.

Also hitting the Anchorage streets was Lisa Keller, a state House candidate with what appears to be only token opposition. A Democrat, she is running in House District 13, a slice of Midtown Anchorage that has been represented by retiring Rep. Andy Josephson, also a Democrat. Keller worked as aide to Josephson, and her only opponent is another Democrat, Felix Rivera, who has done little campaigning.

Waving campaign signs at the intersection of Dimond Boulevard and the Old Seward Highway as morning commuters drove by, Keller admitted that her race isn’t getting the same attention as the big statewide races.

“I think I know how the assembly candidates felt back in April because they were being overshadowed,” she said, referring to Anchorage’s municipal election that took place as the statewide races were heating up.

Her race also may lack the drama and excitement that is enveloping the statewide races, she said.

“It doesn’t feel like a very competitive race, but you can never take anything for granted. Just like in sports,” said Keller, who is a champion triathlete and a coach.

But a group of young Anchorage voters who cast their ballots on Monday at the Midtown Mall early voting site suggested that state legislative elections may be more important to them than the bigger races.

“I’m here voting because I think it’s important to participate in our local elections, and because I think that small-town elections, small stuff matters more than the big stuff, the big scale,” said Colby McMichael.

With him was Ze — “It’s just Ze,” she said of her name — who also attested to the importance of local elections. “Local change is the most important and most effective change,” she said.

McMichael, Ze, Jo Maillet and Curt Burgoyne were voting early because they were due to be on a friend’s film set on Tuesday. They were among more than 25,000 Alaskans who cast their ballots at the state’s 10 early voting stations.

As they waited in a line that was about an hour long, they took turns playing two guitars. The instruments were fetched from a car once they knew they would have to wait a long time to vote, they said. “We walked in the door, saw the line, and then walked right back out,” Maillet said.

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In Southcentral Alaska, voters in some of Alaska’s most conservative regions, including the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and Eagle River, cast their votes in Tuesday’s primary election.

Many voters said one of their biggest challenges was deciding which of the 17 candidates for governor they would like to vote for. Voters also said they found the crowded congressional races daunting — there are 15 candidates for Alaska’s sole U.S. House seat and 16 candidates vying for the U.S. Senate seat.

At 8:30 a.m. in Eagle River, a northern suburb of Anchorage near Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, voters began to arrive in a steady stream to vote before work at the Eagle River Town Center polling station.

Ken Slaughter of Eagle River said he was voting for Shelley Hughes and Blake Gettys for governor and lieutenant governor based on their pro-life stance, a priority for him voting down the ballot as a Republican.

“I’m also a Christian. I’m very conservative in every category — socially, theologically, politically. I don’t like abortion, which to me is murdering babies,” he said. “So I do what I can as a citizen, and that’s vote.”

Farther north in the Matansuka-Susitna Borough, one of the state’s most Republican regions, many voters declined to say on who they picked for governor. 

In downtown Palmer, at the Matanuska–Susitna Borough offices, the polling station had been set up for the last two weeks since early voting began on August 3. On Tuesday morning, a steady stream of voters stopped by to cast their ballots. 

Charm Mastriano of Palmer declined to say who her top pick for governor is, but said she’s hoping for a new direction. “I’m not a Dunleavy fan, and I’m not happy with many of the things he’s done and his vetoes and things like this. So I am looking for a change and hoping for something better,” she said. 

Mastriano also declined to say who she voted for in the high-stakes congressional elections, but said she also wanted to see a new direction in the U.S. Congress. 

“I think they need to get their act together. I’m not at all happy with our Congress. Generally, in the United States, I’m not pleased with the way they behave and they piddle around and don’t do anything, so I think they need to get it together and get things done,” she said.

A few miles west across the valley, Will Lacy stopped to chat after voting mid-morning at Mat-Su Fire Station 51, where polls were set up beside a row of parked fire engines and ambulances.

Lacy said he voted for Shelley Hughes for governor, as he was familiar with her serving in the Alaska State Senate representing the region. 

“I just like her voting record and the things she stands for while she was serving as senator, and she’s always been consistent, and so that’s what I like most about her,” he said. 

He said for the U.S. Senate race he wants to see someone new but declined to say which challenger he voted for.

“I’m going for fresh blood this time around,” he said. “I’m giving somebody else a chance. There’s just some things that I didn’t like about the last two terms, and so I’m just looking for something fresh.”

Poll workers said it was fortunate there had been no fires the engines had to respond to that morning. 

Roughly five miles down the Palmer-Wasilla Highway at the Wasilla City Hall, voters stopped by during lunchtime. 

After casting her ballot, Evelyn Goughnour of Wasilla said she hoped to see more Alaska voters turn out at the polls. 

“I’m feeling pretty positive, if we get enough voters,” she said. “But one thing that we are really lacking is people that really vote, and they don’t realize if they don’t vote, there’s nothing that can be done. And if they don’t vote, they can’t say anything about it, is my opinion, because they didn’t do anything to change things.”

Goughnour said she’s concerned about the rising cost of living in Alaska — for herself and for her children and grandchildren — and wants to see the next elected leaders address it. 

“The prices are being hiked on everything for all of us normal people — the groceries, the gas, how we can barely get by,” she said. “And it’s getting harder and harder to feed the families because the prices are so high. I’m a senior on Social Security, and it’s harder and harder to feed myself.”

Goughnour said she wants to see term limits of no more than eight years for all elected officials, and voted to limit campaign finance contributions, a “yes” on Ballot Measure 1. She declined to say who she voted for as a top pick for governor, but voted for a candidate with “a good moral background.”

“Honestly, I didn’t go for any of the top runners because I don’t think any of them are good. They’re all politicians,” she said. “I think we need somebody in there that is more down to earth and more in tune with the people, and so not the politicians.” 

Zach Scholl of Wasilla said he cast his primary ballot with some relief knowing the primary election would be over Tuesday and end the campaigning, candidate ads and what he called a “bombardment” of campaign flyers in his mailbox. 

“I would love to hear more of what people are going for instead of what they hate about the other person. The slander campaign, like, man, that gets old. I want to see, you know, what do you stand for? What are you doing that’s going to be good?” he said. “So that’s one thing that’s a little disappointing in politics in general.”

Scholl also declined to say who he voted for in the governor’s race, but added he has not heard much from Democratic candidates. 

“I don’t know anybody on the Democratic side,” he said. “I’ve heard a ton of Republicans just everywhere, and it might be me not paying attention enough, but I’ve heard a lot of the Republicans, so it’ll be interesting to see how that shakes out because that splits votes.”

Scholl said he would like to see fisheries, oil and gas, and energy supply issues addressed by new elected leadership. 

“We’re talking about these brownouts and blackouts with gas, that’s a big deal,” he said. “And I think a solution for stuff like that is something that’s you know where if those start happening, people are going to feel and see those effects in real time, and I think those are real issues that I would like to see addressed and talked about.”

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