Remember the Politico story that identified campaign strategist John-Henry Heckendorn as the Democrats’ wunderkind of the north, turning the red state of Alaska purple without voters realizing what was happening?
Heckendorn, Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, and Forrest Dunbar recruited Democrat Zach Fansler to run against Rep. Bob Herron in Bethel, and Dean Westlake to run against Rep. Ben Nageak.
Two good family men were taken out by “Shades-of-Gray Fansler” and “Wandering-Hands Westlake.”
The political operatives for the Democrats recruited Justin Parish to run against moderate Republican Rep. Cathy Munoz in Juneau, because she was, they said, soft on crime; she asked for a judicial review of a constituent’s sentence.
It’s all coming back, isn’t it?
How to Turn a Red State Purple was a fawning story about pretend independents that fooled Alaska voters into thinking they were not Democrats, like Jason Grenn, District 22, who is featured prominently in the publication’s cover art:
Turns out, Heckendorn, Dunbar, and Kreiss-Tomkins brought a posse of playboys to power — randy men who then fell to earth spectacularly due to their misbehavior: Reps. Fansler, Dean Westlake, and Justin Parish.
Now, Bill Walker and Byron Mallott were taken down by … their own behavior, as it turns out, with Heckendorn steering the campaign. Mallott was caught in a sordid series of events that the Administration has chosen to cover up to protect the “victim.”
[Read: The plot thickens on Mallott resignation]
Heckendorn ran the Walker-Mallott campaign into the Twilight Zone after jumping into the Walker Administration for a year of State paycheck as Walker’s embedded campaign guy on the State dime.
If there’s a Midas touch, is there something the opposite, such as a “Kiss Your Campaign Goodbye” touch?
