“He left a big stench in people’s mouths when he resigned (for vice president). That rubbed people in the wrong way,” said Kelly Lyons, a 46-year-old Anchorage engineer.
A stadium full of people
The fight to replace former lawmaker Don Young, who died in March 1988 at the age of 88 after representing Alaska in Congress since 1973, has attracted several ambitious candidates who have been waiting for years for an opening – as well as dozens of candidates who have no made many campaigns, but anyway raised the $ 100 deposit fee. The Republican establishment supports one member of the state’s most prominent democratic family. The Democratic Party is fiercely opposed to the candidate it backed in a Senate race less than two years ago. Oh, and Santa Claus is on the ballot – and he has a chance. In all, 48 candidates are on the ballots posted to state voters, who must choose one and resubmit the ballot by Saturday. The first four to finish will qualify for the special elections on August 16. In this race, Alaska will use a selection ranking system – with voters not just picking their preferred candidate but putting them on the list – to determine the winner. This person will serve the remainder of Young’s term. Further complicated things: On the same day in August, they will vote again in the regular parliamentary by-elections – in which they will select only one candidate out of 31 candidates, determining which four will go to the general elections in November. Voters will then use the ranking system again – and the winning candidate will serve a full two-year term in Washington. Palin’s campaign for Congress was enigmatic. He has attended a number of events and held a rally in Anchorage on June 2, to which Trump invited. But she has not offered any detailed agenda and has not clarified where she sees herself fit into the GOP in Washington. Palin’s campaign did not respond to requests for interviews. He told a candidate forum in May that he wanted to allow the state to drill and extract it, protecting it from the influence of an “impersonal bureaucrat, or politician in a bubble, who would tell Alaska where, when and how” to develop them. our resources “. “The federal government must back down,” he said. “Government, take our backs, come back to us and allow Alaska to have access to our God-given natural resources created for the responsible use of humanity.” But Palin’s opponents have questioned whether Young could play the role that Yang has long played as Alaska’s advocate in Washington, regardless of the cost to the rest of the country. “I think her fame has surpassed her. And even if she wanted to serve Alaska well, she could not escape the status of a celebrity. I think it would be difficult for her to settle down and do her job as an MP.” said John Coggill, a former state lawmaker whose father helped draft the Alaska Constitution. “I think he’s a wonderful person, personally,” Coghill said. “But it is true that in Alaska, many people felt that when he left for that presidential race, that he left for Alaska. He could have come back and said, “Okay, what’s next,” and he didn’t. “
The favorites
Among Alaska’s political observers and even the longest-running candidates in the special election, there are three clear favorites to advance to the second round of four: Palin, Nick Begitz III, a Republican member of Alaska’s most important Democratic political family. and Al Gross, an independent who lost his 2020 Senate nomination to GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan by 12 percentage points. These three candidates have sparked a series of unusual alliances and enemies. Begich III – the grandson of Nick Begich, the former member of the House of Representatives whose plan disappeared in 1972 and was never found – had taken part in the regular House race, plotting to challenge Young months before his death, following a conservative approach to federal spending that is outside the Alaska rule and criticizes the MP for backing the federal infrastructure bill. The Republican Party of Alaska approved Begich III in the special election for the post that his grandfather once held – Young was elected to the only state seat in Parliament after the first Nick Begich was declared dead and held until his death in March. The Democratic Party of Alaska, meanwhile, slammed Gross – the wealthy independent candidate who backed the party in the 2020 Senate race – for proposing to run in a Republican caucus. Following criticism from the state party, Gross backtracked and said he would run in a Democratic caucus, citing a leaked Supreme Court opinion draft that overturned Rowe against Wade. However, State Democrats continued their attacks on Gross, urging voters to choose one of six Democrats registered on their special ballot papers. The race for fourth place in the second round, however, is open. The Democrats of Alaska urged the party voters to go with one of the six registered Democrats in the race. Among the pioneers in this package are Anchorage author Christopher Constant and respected former state lawmaker Mary Peltola, who heads an interfaith fish committee in the vast western part of the state off-road in Alaska. Peltola, who has a long history of Alaska-specific issues, said she has found that voters focus heavily on national issues. “It could be 1965. We are looking at another Cold War. We are talking about women’s reproductive rights. We have tensions between different demographic groups,” Peltola said. “It never crossed my mind before I applied for this position that we would talk about such basic things as democracy, courtesy and respect.” Peltola once represented a state legislature about the size of Oregon. If elected, she would become the first Native American to represent Alaska in Congress. “Whether it’s me or someone else, I just think it’s time for an Alaskan native to be part of our delegation to Congress,” Peltola said. She is one of four candidates vying for the Alaska’s first Native American mantle. The other top candidate in the package is Republican Tara Sweeney, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State who is backed by Alaska-based companies. Sweeney was the co-chair of Young’s campaign. Another Young campaign co-chair, Republican Sen. Josh Revak, a veteran of the Iraq war, has the support of Yang’s widow. Coggill, the former state legislator, is popular with many Republicans and could benefit from the ranking system if he goes ahead. “It’s just this icy wish that Alaska needs a new representative and it should have happened a long time ago, and I’m willing to do it,” Coghill said, explaining the field of candidates so full that it took a whole page for to fit them on the ballot. Then there is Santa Claus, whose name alone may be enough to bring him to fourth place. The 75-year-old North Pole councilor – a burly, bearded Anglican monk wearing a red robe – is an independent candidate identified as a Democratic Socialist who has backed the presidential candidacy of Vermont Sen. Bernie Saunders. Claus has a real platform. He said he supported abortion rights, advocated for environmentally friendly policies that would protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and favored Medicare for All. He said he spoke to Young, a leading proponent of marijuana, about how he had used cannabis after battling cancer. Claus is a candidate only in the special elections of the Parliament and is not a candidate for the full term that starts in 2023. A term of a fourth month, he said, would allow him to “catch up with all the months since Don had passed and reached the work.” Any other candidate who is considered a serious candidate is a candidate in both elections. “Anyone who participates in the short term, since we are unrepresented in Parliament for a while, should dedicate their time working for the people of Alaska, not spending their time campaigning for the next two years,” Klaus said. . Before changing his name from Thomas Patrick O’Connor in 2005, Claus spent time in many US cities. He earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from New York University and worked for the New York Police Department in the 1970s. and became an advocate for children at risk. He said the name change came after he grew a beard and started playing Santa Claus for nonprofits in Lake Tahoe. On a walk on a snowy road in 2005, he had prayed about how he could use his Santa Claus-like appearance to help children. When it was over, he remembered, a white car passed by and someone inside shouted: “Santa Claus, I love you!” “Well,” he said, “I got it in my mind.”
