- Becky Bohrer reports that a federal judge has ruled Alaska must take additional steps to provide materials in Native languages for Alaskan Natives with limited English. This is not a permanent ruling nor does it rule on the plaintiffs’ claim that the state violated their Constitutional rights. It does allow the possibility for federal election observers.
- Public Policy Polling’s latest findings confirm similar polls regarding the U.S. Senate and Governor’s race. Dan Sullivan is ahead of U.S. Sen. Mark Begich 43/41, while Bill Walker is beating Gov. Sean Parnell 42/41. Interesting polling results for 2016 election contenders as well. The Huffington Post has included many of the U.S. Senate polling for quick comparison and with a colorful graph.
- Dan Sullivan gave an interview to conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin with The Washington Post’s Right Turn Blog. Her conclusion? Dan Sullivan is Mark Begich’s worst nightmare.
- Ben Carson, neurosurgeon and known conservative talking head and first contender for the 2016 presidential race? The Hill has his coy pseudo-announcement.
- Juneau municipal absentee ballots now available. The Juneau Empire reports people can get them at City Hall or Mendenhall Mall.
- Michael Carey wrote a touching piece about the late Frank Vondesaar.
- Marshals ran a two-week operation, named “Operation Road Warrior, ending last Friday. The Fairbanks News Miner reports that the interagency fugitive task force have arrested 14 people across Alaska on felony warrants including drugs, sex or violence related charges.
- On Monday, Sean Parnell announced that the Department of Health and Social Services was filing a claim against Xerox over late Medicaid payments. The claim assessed that there is about $46.7 million in damages per the contract’s terms.
- The National Republican Senate Campaign has released a new attack ad against Sen. Mark Begich. It is titled “Dry” as in leaving Alaska “high and dry”.
- Dan Sullivan’s parents recently donated $300k to Republican Super PAC American Crossroads.
- The New Republic’s Jennifer Leber has a curtain-raiser for the United Nations Climate Summit—the largest gathering yet of world leaders on climate change—which convenes in New York City on Tuesday.
- The Washington Monthly’s Ed Kilgore uses Sullivan’s new attack ad against Begich to argue that it’s pointless for red state Dems to vote defensively on gun control. “(N)o one should be under any illusion that defensive voting on individual issues will provide any significant political protection these days,” Kilgore writes.
- Is cheap the new chic? According to Sen. Mark Begich’s new campaign ad, it is.
- The National Association of Realtors is entering the AK Senate races by placing $100k in media buys in Juneau.
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski has given The Washington Post a sneak peek of a new ad that officially aligns her with Dan Sullivan by saying to camera, “I need a partner in the Senate who will work to defend Alaska’s interests, not the Obama agenda. Alaska needs Dan Sullivan.”
- Meantime, Ms. “F##ck it, I quit” Charlo Greene provides a sneak peak into her psyche when she gets all explaining and philosophical on us.
Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com
Being a Marine, while honorable and worthy of our appreciation, does not, by itself, confer infallibility. It is hard to argue that Sullivan was accountable for his 2010 vote, for example. Appearing to be appealing to primary voters seemed to be more important to him than appearing to be a man of conviction.
Sandra your comment is stupefyingly ignorant. A Marine officer is accountable for lives, not just hands. Are you trying to rationalize Begich’s lack of education by painting him as all Joe Proletariat? The working man? That’s pretty funny.
Sorry J.R., but the truth is that most people who are actually going to vote care more about wearing their team’s jersey than effecting any real change. And all the reasons they give themselves why their candidate is better and the other guy is worse are really just rationalizations of their deep-seated desire to win – for their team to win. It’s easier if the race is “Us against Them”, because “Us against Them, and Them, and Them” sounds like a much harder contest. The two-party political system has a vested interested in maintaining the status quo for the same reason, and the media isn’t necessarily complicit in this….they’re just giving people what they want to hear. So stop your rabble-rousing! The poor electorate doesn’t need you upsetting the Us=Good Them=Bad balance with too many options. Who has time to think about stuff anyway?
This is still a FOUR candidate race. No one will earn a majority of votes. Open the debates to ALL candidates. The media is complicit in the suppression of candidate information. We need more than sycophants. Alaska needs real journalists who don’t let personal bias cloud their judgement and integrity.
I don’t understand why Charlo Greene left in the manner she did. Yes, she is currently the darling of everyone that has ever wanted to quit in a grand fashion, but the afterglow of the media spotlight will only last a few more days, if that. What is her next step? Expand her pot business after the election? A serious entry into the medical marijuana will include serious investors. I think it is unlikely they would be interested in aligning themselves with someone that is now not only infamous, but has single-handedly pissed off/offended the Alaskan journalist community by her behavior. My guess is that Big Pot will either buy her out or run her out of business within 5 years. Then, who knows what will become of Ms. Greene.
Don’t we all wish we had a mommy and daddy who could buy us a Senate seat? Most candidates have to work hard for their money. Sullivan is a man who has never had to be accountable for his work as a hired hand — I really don’t trust what I don’t know and I don’t know what he has done for which he has been held accountable.
I thought it was outrageous that Begich has his mother and wife calling him tight with money when he left the Muni in such dire fiscal straits. I try to be cheap with everyone’s money, not just my own. How could anyone be called cheap who voted with Obama 97% of the time?