- GOP Senate candidate Dan Sullivan officially filed for office with the Alaska Division of Elections this morning. At noon, he took his wife and three daughters to meet with a group of female business executives at Jens’ restaurant. The event was organized by Betsy Lawer of First National Bank. On Tuesday night, he’s in Fairbanks for a fundraiser and a meet and greet. While there, he’ll be tailed by New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters, who will be with Sen. Mark Begich on Thursday.
- Anchorage lawyer Walter Featherly has filed a letter of intent to run against Rep. Mike Hawker, who has gotten some bad press for his role in the Anchorage Legislative Information Office fiasco. Featherly is the managing partner for Patton Boggs’ Anchorage office, got his law degree from Harvard, and is Alaska’s Honorary Consul of the Republic of Croatia.
- On Memorial Day, hundreds of Alaskans showed up on the Anchorage Park Strip for the re-dedication of the Anchorage Veterans Memorial. You could hear the rolling thunder of the Alaska Vets Motorcycle Club long before it arrived. Local talk show radio host Dave Stieren was the event’s emcee. Mayor Dan Sullivan served as the Honorary Host. Sen. Lisa Murkowski read a poem written by Vietnam veteran Robert “Joker” Lupo who died earlier this year. Begich quoted from Lee Greenwood’s song “I’m Proud To Be An American.” Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell gave the loudest speech. Spotted in the crowd: GOP U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan, his wife Julie, and two former Democratic governors, Bill Sheffield and Tony Knowles. State Sen. Kevin Meyer and Rep. Bob Lynn also paid their respects. During the event, a helicopter flew over twice, circling, probably capturing some footage for someone’s political ad.
- Another Memorial Day event at JBER, another potential political ad: The Republican tracker who’s been following Begich around went so far as to follow him on base for the Memorial Day ceremonies.
- Mia Costello has hired Alicia Egan, formerly with the Department of Revenue, to run her campaign for the state Senate. Costello is running for the seat currently occupied by Hollis French.
- Upcoming events:
- May 28, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Clare Ross for state Senate at Walter Featherly’s office in the Key Bank Building, 601 W. 5th Avenue, # 700.
- May 29, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Dan Sullivan for lt. governor at Bernies Bungalow, 626 D. Street, Anchorage.
- May 29, 4:30 – 7:00 p,m. Hollis French for lt. governor campaign fund-raiser at the home of Nancy Groszek, 2512 St. Elias Drive, Anchorage.
- May 29, 5:00 – 7:0 p.m. Dennis Egan campaign kick-off fundraiser at the IBEW Hall, 813 West 12th Street, Juneau.
- May 29, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Dan Sullivan for U.S. Senate fundraiser at the home of Matt and Stacey Hellala, 16734 Briarcliff Pointe Circle, Anchorage.
- Late addition: May 29, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Bob Williams for lt. governor at the home of Taylor and Gini King-Taylor, 3201 E. Elderberry Drive, Wasilla. Katie Hurley and several others will be co-hosts.
- The Alaska Republican Assembly convention on Saturday in Wasilla was touted as the freedom-loving event of all freedom-loving events. The masses were expected to show in masses. They didn’t. It wasn’t a flop, but only about 150 people turned out. But it was a holiday, and the day was such a pretty one, and the speeches inside the Wasilla Sports Complex weren’t necessarily uplifting. Socialism. Overreach. Obama. The “homosexual agenda.” Doom. Gloom. Apocalypse. Yikes! Where is Sarah Palin to make you feel good about feeling bad when you need her? The biggest disappointment of the day though had to be that new Republican gubernatorial candidate Russ Millette, who was supposedly the Assembly guy, and served popcorn while there, didn’t win the Straw Poll following the event. Sean Parnell took that one, and he didn’t even have a booth. Other Straw Poll results: For U.S. Senate – Joe Miller; For Congress – John Cox; Lieutenant Governor – Mayor Dan Sullivan. President—Ted Cruz.
- Did anyone notice that Republican gubernatorial candidate Brad Snowden from Seward was hitchhiking south from the Freedom Festival in Wasilla on Saturday? Did any of you notice that he was driven from the Wasilla Sports Complex to the on-ramp on Trunk Road by a certain blogger who writes and owns AmandaCoyne.com? Only in Alaska.
- Speaking of the governor’s race: Now that Russ Millette is in as a Republican, will Bill Walker switch from Independent and make it a three-way? He says, and I quote: “I don’t have any plans to switch at this point.”
- People are talking about some sort of rift of mysterious origin between architect Mark Pfeffer, most recently known for his role in the Anchorage Legislative Office Building debacle, and his friend and often-times business partner Jerry Neeser of Neeser Construction.
- My media buyer friends at some local ad agencies tell me that state Senate and House candidates may have some difficulty finding media outlets to sell them time for the upcoming elections. Sounds as if the federal candidates, for whom they are required to make time available, and super PACs are buying everything available. I’ve been told that state House and Senate candidates are being turned away at KTUU – Channel 2 and KTVA – Channel 11. What’s this all mean? It means that politicians are going to be looking for new and creative ways to annoy you.
- Friendly adversaries: In a New York Times article about Democratic ad producer Mark Putnam, who hails from Anchorage, and is producing Mark Begich’s television ads was complimented by Jon Downs of FP1 Strategies. FP1 is the firm that is doing the ads for Dan Sullivan’s senatorial campaign. It sounds like the two campaign’s ad guys like and respect each other more than the candidates do.
- Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell’s campaign is picking up steam. Tom Karako, a political science professor from Kenyon College, has signed on for the summer, and a gaggle of well-dressed volunteers are supposedly arriving in the coming weeks. Where does he find them? Word is that well-connected, former Alaska Deputy Attorney General and Treadwell friend, Eddie McNally, is spreading the word in the small Republican academic circles.
Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com
I don’t know or care what party Feathely is afilliated with, but I support him. Alaskans must not forget about Hawker’s LIO deal and now is our chance to hold him accountable.
Wait a minute … DNR Dan (OH>DC>AK) said he had a ‘military obligation’ over Memorial Day and that’s why he blew off the bit statewide fisheries debate in Kodiak. WTF?
Guess he’s still too busy hustling back and forth between Anchorage and Fairbanks to make it to the remote parts of the state and take questions about his ‘development at any cost to benefit Outside mega corporations’ platform.
Now, politics isn’t my chosen field, I studied to be a clinical psychologist and have since practiced. I do have to say though, Reeser, have you looked into going in to an office to get checked out? It’s troublesome to see such emotional knee-jerk reactions so publicly advertised on the World Wide Web.
Hey Brad, your comment that you posted is full of frustration and anger. You need to bring your hayte down a notch. Mead just isn’t the kind of candidate that’s easy to like. His campaign has fallen flat and hasn’t inspired ppeople to want to support him. -n 2010, he won the primary with a negative campaign and by getting people to file fraudulent ethichs and APOC complaints. Obviously, even Mead knows that he’s not all that likeable. What I’m saying is true and factual. This is very unlike your snarky, snide and hateful comments. You either need a new candidate that you can feel good about or need some good therapy. In any case, good luck and don’t be so unhappy. It isn’t real becoming.
Out of all of the things you wrote about on this loose lips column, I’ve got to say the only thing that stands out to me is that Treadwell continues to be the worst person ever in all of the world.
Why do you even write about Mead? Money is what we buy votes with in our country, and Dan has got it all (like the dude Adele was singing about). He’s got the campaign structure with Ben 2.0 as the vanguard, and a cavalcade of professional staffers with real political experience.
Dan has four times the record Mead does:
Without Dan, oil production would have stopped.
Without Dan, there would be no credible military candidate.
Without Dan, there is basically no Alaska.
Without Dan, there would have been no fourth point
You’re welcome.
P.s. Dan > Mead
Your Loose Lips column is always one of my favorites. It makes me feel like an insider. Thanks for all you do.
It’s the Blame Game!
I forget… how many interns does Dan have, Ben?
What’s the deal with Treadwell importing lkids from the Lower 48? I don’t have a problem with bringing in political operatives with experience; however, bringing in kids just takes away jobs from Alaskan kids that might be looking for some politoical experience and college spending money. Then ahgain, why would some local kid want to work for Treadwell?