PAT HIGGINS ATTACKS AN IRAQI WAR VET OVER THIS? EW.
Candidate Josh Revak, running for House District 25, has seen a lot in his life.
He nearly lost his leg in war, after enlisting in the U.S. Army shortly after Sept. 11, 2001 and volunteering for battle.
He has what’s called a salvaged leg, held together by equipment he must strap on on each morning after recovering from the injuries caused by enemy mortar fire in Ramadi, Iraq. He has a Purple Heart, and is active in the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
He’s also a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, having struggled with self-medicating after returning home in a wheelchair. Revak has been upfront about his past struggles, and now is raising a family and is involved in his community as a volunteer and a role model.
Pat Higgins doesn’t care.
He and the Alaska Democratic Party have sent out several last-minute mailers blasting Revak for his two DUI convictions and minor fishing violations.
DEMOCRATS LOVE REP. IVY SPOHNOLZ FOR THE SAME THING
Curiously, the Democrats have nothing bad to say about Rep. Ivy Spohnholz, also a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, and also a recovering alcoholic.
She, like Revak, has been public about her struggle with alcohol.
And curiously, the Republicans have nothing to say about Spohnholz’ alcoholism either. The party that supports Revak in District 25 supports Spohnholz’ opponent Stanley Wright in District 16, but doesn’t beat her up over her battles with booze. The attacks are on her stances on an income tax and crime, and the fact that she is a hard partisan for big government.
Mailers that the Democrats are sending to District 25, however, show they’ve seen the polling on the Revak-Higgins race and they are worried.
Revak was a former military aide for Sen. Dan Sullivan and before that was an aide to Congressman Don Young. But before that, he volunteered to defend our nation.
John Stark, who served with Revak in Iraq and who is now a Foreign Service officer, gave him this recommendation:
“I served with Josh in Iraq 2006-2007. The man is a legend among his peers and I wish I could vote in Alaska for him!”
In June of 2006, Revak was part of a combat escort for a group hauling concrete barriers to build an outpost in Ramadi, Iraq.
As they arrived and began to climb out of their Humvee, a mortar shell fell nearby. Revak and his roommate scrambled, then another explosion hit.
The concussion effect from the explosion hit hard, and dazed him — but he was also hit. He could see that a piece of shrapnel had gone through his right ankle, leaving a hole the size of a quarter. His achilles tendon was shattered, and he had to wrap his wounds with the laces from his boot. His roommate and fellow gunner died in the blast. The man was his mentor and his first sergeant.
Revak was just 25 and heading for a lifelong disability — if they could keep the leg at all. And he’d just lost his best friend.
The callousness of his opponent Pat Higgins and the Democrats attacking Revak, who sought help and worked to recover from his post traumatic stress, is nearly unparalleled in Alaska politics.
But Must Read Alaska is reminded of the overseas service of Pat Higgins, where the most danger he faces was being stabbed by the toothpick in his umbrella drink.
While serving on the Anchorage School Board, he phoned into the meetings from his gig in the Marshall Islands — for 11 months.
In fairness, the Alaska Republican Party had fun at Higgins’ expense for phoning in his school board duties while pulling down $28,000 a year as a school board member.
MRAK found this memorable photo in the ARP Facebook archives:
HIGGINS UNCENSORED
Pat Higgins was caught on tape recently describing Josh Revak’s children as stupid and saying that an income tax will be necessary, and he has a lot to say about how it’s the right way to go, but on this tape says he cannot talk about that during the campaign because if he does, he can’t win. Don’t miss the part where he describes women as emotional:
