I am a life-long Anchorage resident, husband, father of four, former candidate for Assembly, former chair of the municipal budget advisory commission, and former Republican Party district chair.
As a conservative both fiscally and socially, I want to tell you why I am supporting Bill Evans for mayor of Anchorage.
Bill Evans is the right choice at the right time. He is smart, sensible and experienced. He is the one candidate who can lead Anchorage to a brighter future.
As I look around our city, I am shocked and saddened by the state of affairs, it is nearly unrecognizable from six years ago. Homelessness, crime, job losses, businesses shuttered, national chains vacating – these are serious problems that require strong leadership – the kind of leadership that Bill Evans will provide.
Conservatives, I want to speak directly to you. I know you are fired up due to the actions of current local leadership and the destructive policies that have followed. I am pleading with you to direct that energy toward supporting a candidate who can win.
With 14 candidates in the race, this election is going to a runoff between the top two contenders. One of those will be the leading liberal and the other will be one of the three conservatives.
I know the other two conservative candidates personally and consider them friends. But Anchorage has changed. We are now a purple city, a city that voted for Biden over Trump.
The fact of the matter is, a far-right conservative candidate is no longer electable.
So what will it be? Will you cling to candidates you may align with ideologically but are not electable, resulting in more of the same policies we’ve seen for the last six years?
Or, will you join me in supporting Bill Evans, the most experienced candidate and the one who can win, so we can bring back the leadership Anchorage so desperately needs.
Andy Clary is a resident of Anchorage.
