The August 20 primary is just over three weeks away. Absentee and early voting starts on August 5. Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) 30-day reports came out this week, showing some candidates with big war chests while others have struggled to fundraise. Representative Mary Peltola (D – Alaska) had a hard week trying to walk the fine line of being a Democrat in a Republican state. Ellie Rubenstein announced she will resign from the Permanent Fund Board of Trustees at a meeting in Fairbanks. And former Representative Gabrielle LeDoux’s trial for election fraud has once again been delayed.
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Mary MeltdownÂ
Representative Mary Peltola had a rough week. On Tuesday (7/23/2024) she held a virtual press conference about President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race. I missed it because the email invitation went to my spam. And this is one I am sorry I missed. Peltola – aware that Donald Trump is going to win big in Alaska – tried to carefully thread a needle by saying she’s “keeping an open mind” in the presidential election. Peltola knows how unpopular Vice President Kamala Harris is and was attempting to distance herself from Harris. But did that backfire!
Alaska Public Media ran a story after the press conference titled “Peltola declines to endorse Harris, says she’s ‘open’ to voting for Trump.” But not long after, probably due to pressure from Peltola, they changed the headline to “Peltola declines to endorse Kamala Harris, won’t say who she’ll vote for.” But not before someone grabbed the first headline and sent out this text to a bunch of Democrats in Alaska.
OMG WHO DID THIS? 😂 #akleg pic.twitter.com/SDIXVT0UK2
— The Alaska Landmine (@alaskalandmine) July 24, 2024
Attempting damage control, Peltola took to X to say she’s not voting for Trump and blamed the media for her dilemma. We are definitely in Loose Unit territory.
I'm not voting for Trump & I’m not endorsing anyone else either. The media won’t allow us to engage in nuanced conversation because it doesn't sell clicks. I won't vote for a candidate who's not pro-choice. I can't ask Alaskans to vote for a candidate who's not pro-energy. https://t.co/y0wUZq41P1
— Mary Peltola (@MaryPeltola) July 23, 2024
To make matters worse, a few days later Peltola was one of six House Democrats that voted to condemn Kamala Harris‘ handling of the border. After Harris‘ job as “border czar,” I don’t blame Peltola for her vote. But that vote, combined with the press conference, really set off Peltola’s base.
NEW: House votes 220-196 to condemn Vice President Kamala Harris' handling of the border.
Six Democrats join with Republicans in support:
— Peltola
— Golden
— MGP
— Caraveo
— Don Davis
— Cuellar— Anthony Adragna (@AnthonyAdragna) July 25, 2024
I learned a long time ago that when you try and make everyone happy, you end up making no one happy. And this is exactly what happened here. Peltola was never going to get many Republican votes. She was always going to get Democratic votes. Her only hope is that she could convince enough swing voters to vote for her. But after the press conference and the Harris vote, many Democrats got pissed. Here are just a few comments on social media. There were so many!
Peltola is going to struggle with this the until November. She’s going to have to both find a way to energize her base and convince enough Trump voters to vote for her. That is no easy task. Her best hope is Republicans Nick Begich and Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom both stay in the race after the primary, and that all their voters don’t rank one another.
Campaign Finance ReportsÂ
More than 110 candidates running for 50 legislative seats recently filed their 30-day campaign finance reports, which were due on July 22. These reports cover the period from February 2 – July 19. These are the first reports since the year start reports, which were due on February 15. Since then more than 50 new candidates have filed. Some of the candidates who filed year start reports in February had not indicated what office they were seeking, and some switched from the House to the Senate. All candidates had to officially and declare file by June 1.
If you would like a complete summary of all the reports, please email jeff@akpoliticalreport.com for information on subscribing to the Alaska Political Report.Â
Here are some highlights:
- All donations for the period exceeded $1.6 million.
- Anchorage attorney Robin Brena donated $20,000 to Democrat Denny Wells and $10,400 to independent Nick Moe. Wells is running against Republican Mia Costello for the open Representative Tom McKay (R – Anchorage) seat. Moe is running against Democrat Carolyn Hall for the open Representative Jennie Armstrong (D – Anchorage) seat. Costello is sitting on $8,500 cash on hand while Wells is sitting on $85,000.
- California Dr. Daniel Kripke donated $30,000 to Representative Alyse Galvin (I – Anchorage). Kripke’s research interests are “Circadian Mechanisms in Mood Disorders and Hypnotics.” Talk about a bizarre donation.
- Republican Leslie Hajdukovich was the top fundraiser, reporting a whopping $125,000 in income over the period. Hajdukovich is challenging Senator Scott Kawasaki (D – Fairbanks).
- Independent Walter Featherly reported $90,000 in income. Featherly is once again challenging Representative Julie Coulombe (R – Anchorage).
- Representative Stanley Wright (R – Anchorage) reported only $5,400 in income. His opponent, Democrat Ted Eischeid, reported nearly $50,000.
- The following candidates, for reasons unknown to me, paid Republican Joseph Lurtsema for campaign work: Senator Kelly Merrick (R – Eagle River), Republican Rob Yundt, Republican Dawson Slaughter, Republican Lucy Bauer, Republican Heather Gottshall, and Republican Jubilee Underwood. Lurtsema is challenging Representative Calvin Schrage (I – Anchorage). Lurtsema gave his campaign $10,000.
- Reprersentive Mike Cronk (R – Tok), who is running for the open Senate seat, reports just $5,600 cash on hand. His main opponent, independent Savannah Fletcher, reports $26,000.
- Representative Tom Baker (I – Kotzebue) reported only $1,000 in income. Democrat Saima Chase reported almost no income. Democrat Robyn Burke reported $25,000.
Other HappeningsÂ
Ellie Rubenstein announced her resignation from the Permanent Fund Board of Trustees at a meeting this week in Fairbanks. Her resignation is effective August 1. This came three months my story, “Permanent Fund board member set up meetings between money managers and her billionaire father, records show.” She announced her resignation after the board voted to elect Jason Brune the new chair and Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum the new vice-chair, something board member Craig Richards called a “coup.” The New York Post did a story on Rubenstein’s resignation and even cited the Landmine! My money is on her billionaire father David Rubenstein told her it was time to resign. I’m sure he was sick of his name appearing in the national media every time they wrote about his daughter. Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska) now needs to appoint someone to fill her seat.
Governor Dunleavy will sign four bills tomorrow at the Tanana Valley State Fairgrounds at 12:30 pm. The four bills are House Bills 104, 155, 233, 237.
The October 1 Fairbanks North Star Borough mayoral race is gonna be lit. Two candidates from dynasty Fairbanks families are facing off. Robert Shields has also filed to run.
Aaron Lojewski just announced that he will withdraw from FNSB mayoral race. Savannah Fletcher also withdrew to run for the State Senate. This leaves John Coghill and Grier Hopkins, both from dynasty political families in Fairbanks. Will be a hot race! #akleg
— The Alaska Landmine (@alaskalandmine) July 26, 2024
Another one!
Wow. Gabrielle LeDoux's election fraud trial has once again been delayed. This time until November. #akleg pic.twitter.com/1QmGOYjoDD
— The Alaska Landmine (@alaskalandmine) July 24, 2024
Sometimes a caption is not required.
😂 #akleg pic.twitter.com/NSykkDZFWz
— The Alaska Landmine (@alaskalandmine) July 28, 2024
This Week’s Loose UnitÂ
This week was clearly between Mary Peltola and Ellie Rubenstein. After careful consideration, this week’s Loose Unit is Mary Peltola. The bulk of the reasons can be read above in the “Mary Meltdown” section. But to summarize, in the matter of a few days she went from saying she was open to voting for Trump to saying she would not vote for Trump or Kamala Harris, got Alaska Public Media to change their headline, blamed the media for her meltdown, then voted with Republicans to condemn Harris‘ handling of the border. All the while pissing off her base. If that’s not Loose Unit behavior, I don’t know what is.
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.
Will you be correcting your story after Ak Public Media called you out about headline changes?
I could see how Mary might hurt herself in a regular fptp election but with ranked choice voting she’ll likely still do fine