Alaska Politics

This is the place to talk about Alaska politics -- state, local, national. Public life in the Last Frontier may never have been more interesting than right now -- the broad and still-evolving corruption investigation, a big election, a popular governor, powerful members of Congress under scrutiny, and the usual hardball Alaska politics. Come here for news, tidbits and information, and join the discussion. Keep your comments civil and on point. Avoid personal attacks. Do not use profanity. Posts that violate the Terms of Use will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be banned.


Contributors

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins writes about Anchorage city government and politics. He covered last year's campaign for governor, and has blogged extensively about Alaska politics for the past year. He grew up in Southeast Alaska and was a reporter at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Press. E-mail Kyle at khopkins@adn.com

Sean Cockerham

Sean Cockerham writes about Alaska state politics. He spent three years based in Juneau for the Daily News before joining the Tacoma News-Tribune two years ago to write about Washington state politics. He went to Iraq twice for the News Tribune, and previously wrote about Alaska government and politics for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Now he's back in Anchorage. E-mail Sean at scockerham@adn.com

Erika Bolstad

Erika Bolstad covers Alaska issues, including the congressional delegation, from Washington, D.C., for McClatchy Newspapers. Before joining the bureau this summer, she spent seven years as a reporter at the Miami Herald, where she covered politics, government and the state legislature. E-mail Erika at ebolstad@adn.com.

Archive

Palin spokeswoman: Kopp never told governor about reprimand (Updated with comments from lawmakers) - 7/24/2008 4:03 pm

Legislative Council to meet; Monegan on agenda? - 7/24/2008 2:40 pm

Metcalfe on the air - 7/24/2008 11:06 am

TransCanada still looking for federal help - 7/24/2008 10:52 am

Wall Street Journal on Stevens, Young - 7/24/2008 4:40 am

Rep. Meyer – TransCanada supporter? - 7/23/2008 11:57 pm

$1,200 rebate clears first committee - 7/23/2008 11:36 pm

Smile! - 7/23/2008 2:00 pm

National Dems like Begich's chances - 7/23/2008 1:33 pm

House passes TransCanada license – again - 7/23/2008 1:03 pm

What Kopp said - 7/22/2008 8:19 pm

Palin responds to "Latest round of falsehoods" - 7/22/2008 4:59 pm

Kopp: "I am not a sex harasser" - 7/22/2008 3:50 pm

Kopp to talk about Kenai years - 7/22/2008 2:53 pm

Cowdery resigns as Legislative Council chair - 7/22/2008 2:33 pm

T. Boone Pickens on ANWR - 7/22/2008 2:28 pm

How far would those $1,200 checks go in covering increased fuel prices? - 7/22/2008 11:47 am

Show and tell on ANWR - 7/22/2008 10:34 am

Poll chatter - 7/22/2008 8:48 am

Monegan speaks - 7/21/2008 6:05 pm

Palin investigator expected - 7/21/2008 1:36 pm

Pipeline issue marches on - 7/21/2008 1:23 pm

full archive »

Campaign season

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Posted: May 12, 2008 - 5:32 pm

From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage --

The filing deadline to run for the state Legislature isn't until June 2 but there's already some interesting races shaping up.

Fairbanks should have races worth watching. John Brown, who is a well-known union guy in the Interior, has already brought in over $10,000 to run as a Democrat against Republican incumbent representative Jay Ramras. I'd imagine Ramras has almost universal name recognition in Fairbanks (commercials for his business, Pike's Waterfront Lodge are pretty hard to miss). He's also outspoken (things like accusing Sarah Palin of "McCarthyism," during the oil tax debate.)

Fairbanks also has a Democratic incumbent representative, Scott Kawasaki, who has attracted a challenger with some name recognition. Republican Sue Hull, a two-term school board member who's been on the state board of education, is taking him on. I haven't lived in Fairbanks in awhile but that strikes me as a district that could go either Democrat or Republican.

Down in Kodiak, we have the return of Al Austerman. Austerman, the Republican former state senator and Frank Murkowski's advisor for fish policy. Austerman is running for the state House seat Gabrielle LeDoux is giving up to run for Congress. I've seen Kodiak media report that nursery owner Lonnie White is also running as a Republican. Kodiak documentary filmmaker Dave Kaplan is running for the seat as a Democrat.

There's also an interesting race shaping up in the Mendenhall Valley district of Juneau. This has proven to be a swing district over the years. Republican Stephanie Madsen, former chair of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, is running for the House seat held by Democrat Andrea Doll.

You've also got the Lyda Green - Linda Menard Republican primary race in the Mat-Su. Green is the powerful state Senate president who has feuded with Sarah Palin. Menard and her husband, Curt, have close ties to Palin. This should be something.

These are just a few examples of some potentially good races shaping up. There are others out there as well, and I'm sure we will be seeing a lot more candidates filing in the next couple weeks.


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  3     May 12, 2008 - 10:49pm | Cartman3_15

Green and Babcock

I wonder if Mat-Su voters will witness more bullying and threats from Lyda's son-in-law Tuckerman Babcock against Menard. Seems like someone might be feeling vulnerable -- with good reason. Time for Lyda to go.

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  2     May 12, 2008 - 10:28pm | Diogenes_lamp

Voting Guide for Ramras' district....

1) John Brown
2) Mickey Mouse
3) Prince Albert
4) Donald Duck
5) Jed Clampet
6) John Doe.......
101) J-Bird Ramras

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  May 14, 2008 - 11:07pm | Cartman3_15

The Three Stooges

Ramras, Harris and Huggins went to China with Hickel to explore NG markets. Could Alaska possibly be represented by three worse individuals? God help us.

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  1     May 12, 2008 - 6:03pm | rfn

It'll be more interesting

to see if an opponent arises to take on Mr. Mining Shutdown in the primary.

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