Forums and debates that both Sen. Mark Begich and GOP challenger Dan Sullivan will be participating in:

• Wednesday, October 1, Kodiak Chamber of Commerce (Kodiak)
• Tuesday, October 21, Soldotna Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum (Soldotna)
• Thursday, October 23, Resource Development Council Candidate Forum (Anchorage)
• Friday, October 24, Alaska Federation of Native Candidate Forum (Anchorage)
• Tuesday, October 28, Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce Forum (Fairbanks)
• Wednesday, October 29, KTUU Channel 2 Debate (Anchorage)
• Thursday, October 30, Debate for the State  – Alaska Public Media (Anchorage)

Addition forums and debate that Begich has agreed to participate in:

• Tuesday, October 14, League of Women Voters and Anchorage School District Student Forum (Anchorage)
• Sunday, October 26, KTVA Ch. 11 and Alaska Dispatch Debate (Anchorage)
• Monday, October 27, Anchorage Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum (Anchorage)

You can read straight news stories about the debate between Gov. Sean Parnell and “unity” candidate Bill Walker here, and here, This account, from a reader, who obviously favors Gov. Sean Parnell, is also interesting:

Fun debate in Juneau today. Parnell has an improved style, and he certainly won the day.  Walker sometimes seemed confused…. The audience, about 250 people, were much more with Parnell.  No bombs were dropped.  Nothing shocking was revealed….Parnell quoted Walker from some Sept. 5 radio show in which Walker is to have said he would cut 16% – $224 million from personal services costs – the first year in office.  Parnell asked where Walker would make the cuts  to achieve that level of reduction.

Walker answered, “I will ask the departments to work smarter.” That doesn’t answer the question for me.

Both candidates are voting for the minimum wage increase and against the marijuana legalization, and they gave reasons that revealed no differences between the candidates. Both candidates favored keeping the capital in Juneau but Walker went a little further and said he would require all commissioners to live in Juneau, and the audience liked that.  Continue reading →

Today’s mail. #aksen pic.twitter.com/9XaB0Iwpgt

— Ben Rowell (@benjaminrowell) September 30, 2014

Unlike the DSCC ad below, here’s an ad featuring icon Bella Hammond endorsing Sen. Mark Begich,that will likely be effective:

I highlighted this ad from the DSCC attacking GOP Senate candidate Dan Sullivan on women’s issues in the news roundup, but thought it deserved its own post. Certainly women in Alaska need to know where Sullivan stands on these issues, but I have mixed feelings about how effective this particular ad will be. What do you all think?

• The AP reports that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging the validity of the Walker/Mallott merger will not be appealing last Friday’s ruling that the Unity ticket is valid.

• The DSCC has released a new ad targeting U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan’s anti-choice stance and support to empower employers to deny coverage for birth control.

• Governor Sean Parnell’s lawyer as well as his policy director Randal Ruaro have used Sen. Mark Begich’s Jerry Active ad as one reason not to release documents pertaining to the Alaska National Guard scandal to Alexandra Gutierrez with APRN.

• KTVA’s 11 Daybreak interviewed U.S. Sen. Mark Begich during a live, sit-down chat about Syria, November’s ballot measures, attack ads and public debates.  According to KTVA, U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan has been invited to Daybreak, but hasn’t yet responded.

• Alaska’s polling issues have piqued interest in the UK. UK  Progressive has a piece written by Sam Wang that delved into the consistent problems pollsters have when trying to get an accurate portrayal of Alaska’s shifting political landscape.

Continue reading →

Today was a day of endorsement-hedging. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski declined to say who she’s supporting in the governor’s race, and gubernatorial candidate Bill Walker, a Republican who is running as an “unaffiliated” candidate with Democratic blessings, as well as with the endorsement of Sen. Mark Begich, declined to return the favor.

Sen. Murkowski defends ads endorsing Sen. Candidate Dan Sullivan. “In an election, you have to take sides.” #Alaska #Ch2KTUU

— Adam Pinsker (@AdamPinsker) September 29, 2014

Q.: Will you endorse in the Alaska governor’s race? A.: “I don’t know.” — Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.

— Kyle Hopkins (@kylehopkinsAK) September 29, 2014

Q. “Who are you voting for in the Alaska governor’s race?” A. “I’m not going to tell you.” — Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.

— Kyle Hopkins (@kylehopkinsAK) September 29, 2014

Here’s the party breakdown of absentee ballot requests as of Friday, Sep. 26:

In Alaska, about 27 percent of voters are registered Republicans, about 14 percent are registered Democrats, and about 54 percent are nonpartisan/undeclared. Although the numbers for Republicans look good, keep in mind that Republicans in Alaska traditionally vote absentee at a much higher rate than do Democrats. What’s also interesting is that neither party seems to be working that huge swath of nonpartisan/undeclared voters.

• Sen. Mark Begich released a new ad simply titled “Margie,” featuring Margie Brown, former President and CEO of Cook Inlet Region, Inc. In it Brown expounds on the amazing work Sen. Begich has done to help the over 3,000 jobs in the telecommunication field here in Alaska as both mayor and senator. She also mentions how great Begich and Sen. Lisa Murkowski work together, which will likely further rankle Murkowski. 

• The first of many Alaska state races previews: Senate District E.

• Senior political writer, Harry Enten, with FiveThirtyEight offers advice on how to read the tea leaves in the recent U.S. Senate polls. His take; Alaska has been a fairly stable race with Sullivan winning “by a couple of percentage points,” as of Friday.

• While California’s public pension fund has decided to stop investing in hedge funds, Opalesque reports that Alaska’s Permanent Fund Corp. is sticking with their current strategy.

Continue reading →

In Senate District E, Republican Sen. Mike Dunleavy is being challenged by Independent candidate and former Mat-Su Borough Assemblyman Warren Keogh. (Both have released web ads, which are below.) The district encompasses House Districts 9 and 10. It isn’t a district for anyone with fear of distances. It stretches from south of Cantwell down the Parks Highway to Houston, runs out to Skwentna, north to the city limits of Wasilla and Palmer, then up the Glenn Highway to Glennallen, goes just north of Delta down to Valdez, and through the tunnel to the City of Whittier. Just the drive between Delta and Wasilla is about six hours.

Dunleavy, towering above his Senate colleagues at 6’7″, is known as a strong conservative, whatever that means in Alaska these days. He was elected in 2012 by defeating incumbent Sen. Linda Menard in the Republican primary with more than 57 percent of the vote. He was unopposed in the general election. Prior to his election to the Senate, he was a teacher, school superintendent and school board member.

Keogh, a former Mat-Su Borough Assemblyman and resident of Chickaloon, is running for the Senate seat as an Independent. He is a Vietnam vet, a retired firefighter and paramedic, and is known, either fairly or unfairly, as an environmentalist for his opposition to coal mining in the area. Continue reading →