Jim Crawford files for Senate to primary Sen. von Imhof

By
Suzanne Downing
-
19

Former Alaska Republican Party Chairman Jim Crawford has filed a letter of intent to run against incumbent Sen. Natasha von Imhof, District L.

Von Imhof won the seat in 2016, beating Rep. Craig Johnson and upstart Jeff Landfield in the primary for the largely conservative district.

Crawford, born and raised in Anchorage, is an advocate of the statutory formula for the Permanent Fund dividend.

He also is a critic of the way the State has handled deposits into the Permanent Fund, saying that an auditor has pointed out serious flaws that need to be corrected, including $99.8 million that should have gone to the fund in 2018.

Crawford was deputy executive director of Alaska State Housing Authority. “I was a banker, we cleaned them up, straightened out all their problems. That was the worst financial statement I’d ever seen. This state financial statement is the second worse I’ve seen in 40 years.”

Crawford was state chairman for the presidential campaigns of Bob Dole in 1992, Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984, George H.W. Bush in 1988, and Donald Trump in 2016.

Crawford says he will not join a binding caucus: “My vote is not for sale.”

19 COMMENTS

  3. No problem with his candidacy per se. Just wanted to remind everyone that he ran against Elvi Gray-Jackson only about a year ago. District shopping at its finest?

    • Sean, it is true that Jim ran in another district recently. Jim must have changed his residence recently. You seem to imply that Mr. Crawford is some sort of a Carpetbagger. He is not. I know Jim, his family roots in Aladka go way back.

      Mr. Crawford has energy and is passionate about making Alaska a better place to live.

      • I’m quite well aware of the Crawford family’s accomplishments in Alaska (City National Bank of Anchorage, Alaska State Bank, etc.). In fact, I recently posted a photo on Facebook which showed his mother carrying out her leadership role with the latter bank. The last time I had any firsthand interaction with Jim was in 1998 during the Lindauer campaign, right before I was urged to get as far away from Lindauer as I possibly could for reasons which soon became apparent to everyone. It’s completely understandable why he doesn’t tout his role with that campaign the way he does with other campaigns. I would note the one time I went to his house for a fundraiser, which was in still another part of Anchorage. See, I thought moving around a lot from one residence to the next was a stereotype of low-income people.

  6. More info can be found on the AK Courtview site. Multiple cases with judgments against him adding up to over $30K with at least one still pending. Maybe he should have paid more attention to his own financials.

  9. Ok, made me look….Are you sure you are talking about the same Jim Crawford?

    $788K+ judgment from 2012? 3AN-09-05963CI
    $51K judgment in 2006? 3AN-06-06247CI
    $21K judgment in 2018? 3AN-17-10476CI

    And at least a dozen more????

    I listen to Jim on the radio shows and he sounds like a financial wizard. Is this the same guy?

    • There are a lot of James Crawford’s out there. I am sure none of those are THIS Jim. He has been around a long time. I am sure his DOB is around the 1940’s time period.

  10. Finally, A Republican running for a Republican seat. Primary is Republican Crawford versus ImHoff Democratic Socialist.

  11. Wow Jim Crawford -look -we are here to support you-I already donated. Only leftists are mud slinging-because they are already seeing what’s coming -all the can do now
    Is throw mud….good luck sir

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