BREAKING: Apollo 11 Astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin .@TheRealBuzz Endorses Mead Treadwell for US Sen. http://t.co/dl6lZgE0iE #LeadwithMead #aksen

— Treadwell for Senate (@Mead_Treadwell) August 18, 2014

.@USChamber is proud to support @DanSullivan2014 in tomorrow’s #aksen primary. https://t.co/G6rXezx7Pv

— Rob Engstrom (@RobEngstrom) August 18, 2014

Interesting choice for Treadwell to compete with Sullivan for Ohio endorsements. #aksen — Alaska Democrats (@AlaskaDemocrats) August 18, 2014

Thank you @GovMikeHuckabee for endorsing my candidacy for U.S. Senate! #aksen http://t.co/z5yzrjv0Zc pic.twitter.com/Cl7LrKhans — Joe Miller (@JoeWMiller) August 18, 2014

Democratic operative on preparing statements for #AKsen tomorrow: “If Joe Miller’s the nominee, we just need to put a smiley face out.”

— Nat Herz (@Nat_Herz) August 18, 2014

From the Wall Street Journal:

“During a Monday interview on Anchorage radio station KOAN-AM, Mr. Sullivan five different times declined to say whether he is ideologically closer to Mr. Miller or Ms. Murkowski. He said both that he didn’t vote in the 2010 Senate race because, as attorney general, he would have to act on post-election litigation and “someone would say, ‘were you on this person’s side or that person’s side.’”

The IBEW and the Alaska State Employees Association—both of which represent thousands of government workers–have endorsed “Yes” ballot measure 1, to repeal the oil tax. Meanwhile, four trade unions – Teamsters Local 959, Plumbers & Pipefitters United Association Local 375 in Fairbanks, Operating Engineers Local 302 and Laborers Local 942 –have urged voters to vote “No” on the repeal. Those unions get substantial amounts of work from the oil fields.

The debate is complex. Production curves. Rates of return. New versus old production. Legacy fields versus non unitized areas. Personalities and conflicting numbers. All of these things and more add to the stew that’s makes up the oil tax debate.

But the public union endorsements add to my suspicion that at its heart, the most recent incarnation of the fight over oil taxes—a fight that the state has been having since Prudhoe was discovered in 1968—is really more simple than all of this. When you get down to it, the biggest elephant in the room lives in the state coffers, where it involves, among other weighty things, public employee versus private sector jobs. And that’s an elephant that few, at least in government, want to talk about. Continue reading →

After Joe Miller said in a debate on Thursday night that Sarah Palin is the figure in Alaska that most inspires him, Palin returned the favor by endorsing Miller for U.S. Senate.

“We said we’d send the good guys in Washington their reinforcements, so, Alaska, here we go! Vote for Joe Miller on Tuesday and shake off the liberal stronghold so we can get on the right track,” Palin said in a statement sent not to the local media, but to Fox News in New York on a Friday late afternoon, which is traditionally time to release news when you don’t want it to be news.

In 2010, Palin declined to work hard for Miller’s campaign after he won the 2010 primary. Part of the problem then was that when asked in an interview, Miller declined to say that Palin was qualified to be President of United States. Continue reading →

After upwards of $12 million spent by industry and their allies to try to keep the public from voting to repeal the oil tax regime that was passed in 2013, this video is the best thing to come out of the issue. It’s a take-off of the song “Let It Go,” from the Disney movie “Frozen.” A Facebook posting said it came from a group of volunteers. It appears to have been made by Michael Sedor, who is a graduate of Dimond High School and attends Gonzaga. who is a senior at Colony High School. However it works out on Tuesday, Sedore’s got a bright career ahead of him.

Probably the biggest news that came out of Thursday night’s Senate GOP primary debate was that Joe Miller said that he would “without a doubt,” support which ever candidate wins the primary.

“We’ve got to get rid of Begich. There’s no question about it,” a surprisingly amiable Miller said at the debate, which was moderated by KTUU’s Steve MacDonald. It was the last debate before the primary on Tuesday. KTUU is the state’s largest television station.

Up until now, unlike Dan Sullivan and Mead Treadwell, the two other candidates in the race, Miller has declined to answer that question. When asked, he repeatedly segued back to the two candidates’ support of Lisa Murkowski when she lost to him in the 2010 GOP primary. Continue reading →

The Alaska Policy Forum, which is part of a network of conservative think tanks across the country, has compiled a salary database of 2,561 Municipality of Anchorage employees so that “taxpayers have as much factual data as possible so they can encourage elected officials to make the right decisions,” David Boyle, head of APF, said in a release.

A pamphlet of the salaries is being distributed inside the Anchorage Daily Dispatch. Some of the salaries are eye-popping. As the database shows, 1,978 muni employees made more than $100,000 a year in total earnings and benefits in fiscal year 2013. One hundred sixteen of those made more than $200,000 a year, including benefits. Eight made more than $250,000 a year. Continue reading →

Here’s the latest ad from the pro-Mark Begich super-PAC Put Alaska First. It’s the first television ad the PAC has released that includes Mead Treadwell. Take that for what you will. Polls have shown that Dan Sullivan is leading the primary-pack. But Put Alaska First is also polling, and it might see things that other pollsters aren’t. Anchorage-based Jim Lottsfeldt, who runs the PAC, declined comment on whether or not the PAC is going to air another ad before next Tuesday’s primary.

State candidates filed seven-day reports to APOC Tuesday—seven days before the primary election—documenting how much they have raised in the last 20 days, from July 19 to August 9. From now until the primary, candidates will have to report contributions within 24 hours of receiving them.

Remember, primaries can be won more through grassroots support and with name recognition than in funds. But a glimpse of the reports does give you a window in the strengths of a campaign. Below are some of the more interesting filings, starting with the big race.
Continue reading →

For a piece on the GOP primary Senate race in Alaska. the AP’s Becky Bohrer probes candidate Joe Miller on whether or not he has plans to run as a third-party candidate. Miller told Boher that he’s not considering that move, because “I don’t think it would be successful,” he said.

The talk is that if he did so, Miller would likely try to run as a Libertarian. However, the current Libertarian candidate, Mark Fish–although he is a friend and he has worked for Miller in the past–has repeatedly said that he wouldn’t step aside for Miller because Miller isn’t a Libertarian. Fish is.

The Wall Street Journal published a terrifying story, datelined in Soldotna, about Alaska’s economy headlined, “In U.S. Energy Boom, Alaska Is Unlikely Loser.” As it points out, Alaska used to be the second highest oil-producing state in the country. Now we’re fourth, behind Texas, North Dakota, and California. Production has dropped 75 percent since its peak of 2 million barrels a day in 1989. The state’s gross domestic product decreased by 2.5 percent in 2013, while every other state increased its GDP. And the state’s unemployment rate in 2013 was 6.4 percent—eclipsing the national average. More people left Alaska than settled in the state between 2012 and 2013, while North Dakota added residents, the WSJ reports.

Here’s a chart that the newspaper put together to go with its story:

It gets worse: Continue reading →