The primary is less than a month away! I am writing this week’s column from Nome! I came up for a few days to visit a friend and check it out. I’m told the amazing weather today is as good as it gets. I am staying newly reopened Nome Nugget Inn, which is awesome.

The big news today is Joe Biden is out. He, or people with access to his social media accounts, posted that he is not seeking re-election and is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president. Meanwhile, the Republicans held their convention this week in Milwaukee. Several Alaskans attended as delegates. Quarter 2 FEC reports came out this week. They show Representative Mary Peltola (D – Alaska) maintaining a huge fundraising lead over her two Republican opponents. Multiple bills were transmitted to Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska), including the five that were passed by the House after the constitutional deadline. And after weeks of silence, Governor Dunleavy quietly reappointed Ethan Schutt to the Permanent Fund Board of Trustees this week.

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Bye Bye Biden

President Joe Biden announced today that he is not seeking re-election. It was done via a letter posted on his social media. Politico reported that several White House and campaign aides learned of the news via Twitter. Biden has been in isolation for the last four days at his home in Delaware. Honestly, the whole thing feels like a high level coup with in the Democratic Party. Regardless, Biden is now out.

Biden (so far as we know), and several other Democrats, immediately endorsed Kamala Harris. Alaska Democratic Party leaders were quick to join in. But Barrack Obama and many Democratic congressional leaders have not endorsed her. There’s a lot of chatter that Senator Joe Manchin (I – West Virginia) is considering switching back to Democrat so he can seek the nomination as well. Whatever happens, Democratic delegates will choose the party’s nominee, not the millions of Democratic primary voters who voted for Joe Biden. So much for Democracy!

Q2 FEC Reports 

Quarter 2 Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports for federal candidates were due on July 15. These reports cover the period from April 1 – June 30. The reports show Representative Mary Peltola again with a significant fundraising and cash advantage over her two Republican opponents, Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom and Nick Begich. Peltola is sitting on a war chest of $3.3 million. Dahlstrom has just under $605,000, while Begich has $234,000.

Here are the Q2 highlights for each candidate:

• Peltola took in over $2 million – $1.8 million came from individuals while $204,000 came from political action committees. She spent $1.3 million, leaving her with $3.3 million cash on hand.
• Dahlstrom took in $389,000 – $249,000 of which came from transfers from other authorized committees, $103,000 came from individuals, and $46,000 came from political action committees. She spent $189,000, leaving her with $605,000 cash on hand.
• Begich took in $311,000 – all of which came from individuals except for $6,000 from a political action committee. He spent $250,000, leaving him with $234,000 cash on hand. Begich’s report lists a $425,000 debt owed to his campaign. He explained this was leftover from his last run. He loaned his campaign $650,000 during the last cycle, of which he paid himself back $225,000. He has not made any loans this cycle and says he is not going to pay himself back any of the previous loan.

Other Happenings 

The Republican National Convention took place this week in Milwaukee. Several Alaskans, including former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and Nick Begich, were in attendance. Noteworthy is Governor Dunleavy was spotted sitting two spots away from Donald Trump on Thursday (7/18/2024) night, the night Trump spoke. If anyone doubted that Dunleavy is looking for a cabinet position if Trump wins, you can remove those doubts now.

Governor Dunleavy reappointed Ethan Schutt to the Permanent Fund board this week. Schutt’s term expired on July 1. Dunleavy remained silent about it for weeks. His office would not provide comment. A Landmine story earlier this year on internal problems at the Permanent Fund included an email where the chief investment officer said Ellie Rubenstein told him that Dunleavy told her that Schutt would not be reappointed. That resulted in a lot of people watching what Dunleavy would do. Schutt is the current chair, but over the last several months big votes have gone 4-2 away from Schutt. Look for Schutt to soon be replaced as chair. The most likely new chair is Jason Brune. Craig Richards has been voting with Schutt and there’s no way they will make Ellie Rubenstein chair. And it’s very unlikely Commissioners Adam Crum or Ryan Anderson will be made chair. There is a board meeting scheduled this Wednesday in Fairbanks.

Several bills were transmitted to Governor Dunleavy this week, including the five bills that the House passed after midnight on day 121 – the constitutional session limit. Multiple sources report Dunleavy plans on vetoing the bills because of the constitutional issue. I have stated publicly multiple times that if any of the bills are signed into law, or allowed to go into law without signature, I will file a lawsuit challenging them.

Other bills have yet to be transmitted to Dunleavy two months after the session ended. One of those is Senate Bill 127, the vehicle rental/Turo tax compromise bill. Senator Matt Claman (D – Anchorage), the sponsor of the bill, is asking for it not to be transmitted so he can try and convince Dunleavy not to veto it.

Several Republicans, including Representative Jesse Sumner (R – Wasilla), were listed as co-hosts for a recent fundraiser this week for independent House candidate Nick Moe. Moe is in a heads-up match with Democrat Carolyn Hall for the open West Anchorage House seat. That is going to be an interesting race.

More drama in the Office of the U.S. Attorney for Alaska. That office sounds like an absolute disaster.

Neil Steininger, a former OMB director, has filed for the open Downtown Juneau/Douglas Assembly seat. So far he’s the only candidate. The deadline to file is tomorrow afternoon. Several sources report that former Permanent Fund CEO Angela Rodell will file to challenge Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon. Rodell has recently been working as a legislative staffer for Senator Cathy Giessel (R – Anchorage).

This Week’s Loose Unit 

Something I learned late in the week solidified this week’s designee. This week’s Loose Unit is Lisa Simpson (formerly Lisa Vaught). Simpson was a former legislative and staffer for former Representative Gabrielle LeDoux. She also unsuccessfully ran for the State House in 2012 (don’t forget this gem!) In 2019, Simpson and LeDoux, and Simpson’s son, were charged with election fraud stemming from LeDoux’s 2018 election. More charges were added in 2021.

The trial has repeatedly been delayed for years. But it’s finally scheduled to start this week. On Friday I got a tip that Simpson flipped on LeDoux and made a deal with the prosecutors. I was quickly able to confirm the tip. I have not yet been able to obtain the plea agreement, but I am told part of her plea includes testifying against LeDoux. It doesn’t get much looser than flipping on your former boss, and friend, right before the trail begins. Classic Loose Unit behavior.

If you have a nomination for this week’s Loose Unit, or if you have any political news, stories or gossip (or any old pics of politicians or public officials) please email me at jeff@alaskalandmine.com.