May is a busy month for filing for office. Be sure to keep up with who is jumping in the deep end of the pool by opening your Must Read Alaska Monday Newsletter and Wednesday and Friday News Flashes. Subscribe on the right side of this page.
The June 1 filing deadline fast approaches. Here are the recent additions to the political season:
Kiehl, a Democrat who also serves on the Assembly, wants that Senate job, but Etheridge has union support.
Etheridge is undeclared with any party and is pro-Juneau Access Project. Kiehl is Democrat and anti-road. This will end up being a referendum on the road.
A 1971 graduate of Juneau-Douglas High School, Etheridge has decided to not run in the Democrats’ primary, but go on the ballot via petition.
Etheridge was once described by Must Read Alaska columnist Art Chance this way: “I like Don Etheridge; he’s a big, avuncular working-class hero kind of guy who had the distinction of once being the most expensive employee in State government. Etheridge is the Alaska State District Council of Laborers’ lobbyist in Juneau; he is a fixture in the halls of the Capitol and can get an appointment with anybody who is anybody in State government, whether the Administration is Democrat or Republican. He also has a cool tugboat.”
That is handy because he has also been chairman of the Docks and Harbors Committee for the City and Borough of Juneau. Read Art’s column from 2016 here.
Juneau, and all of Alaska would be extremely fortunate if Etheridge prevailed in this race. He is just as well liked as Senator Egan is. Etheridge actually gets things done for Alaska, and he brings no personal problems to the arena. Each of the other two has some very strong enemies but Etheridge has none – really, none. The Alaska Democrat Party machine will put lots of money into the Kiehl campaign.
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