TAKING NO CHANCES
In another sign that she takes nothing for granted anymore when it comes to voters, Sen. Lisa Murkowski has raked in more than $730,000 during the fundraising quarter that ended July 1.
The Murkowski campaign appears to have become a well-oiled machine with several long-time Alaskans onboard and a schedule that would tire a teenager.
The latest campaign hire is Robert Dillon, who worked for Murkowski on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Dillon returned to Murkowski’s orbit as her campaign communication director after a stint with a public relations company in DC.
Murkowski and Congressman Don Young have been appearing at events together across Alaska, talking about the importance of having a strong, cohesive team in the nation’s capital. Young said to a small group of political activists on Monday that he was relieved to have a solid team working in Washington, a big difference from the six years when Mark Begich was senator.
OPPONENT GETTING WINDCHILL
One of Murkowski’s opponents, Margaret Stock, is running as an independent but with the backing of the Alaska Democratic Party. Stock has less than a nickel for every dollar Murkowski has in the bank.
Stock has also not turned in the signatures needed to get onto the November ballot as an independent, but she’s paid contract workers $8,000 to gather those names. Prognotiscators are predicting she may come in behind Democrat “Disco” Ray Metcalfe, who jumped into the race late in the cycle, after Stock was denied a spot on the Democrats’ ballot for the primary. The Alaska Division of Elections ruled against her and the Democrats’ attempt to include her name on their ballot.
Stock, who purports to be nonpartisan and says she would caucus with whoever would caucus with her, met with the now-disgraced Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz when Schultz was in Alaska in May. The meeting was a bid to shore up fundraising from the Democrats.
But that did not boost Stock enough: She has just $145,000 available, and $25,000 of that is her own money.
Murkowski, however, has $3.1 million still on hand. Through March 31, Murkowski had raised more money than any Alaska senate candidate in history, bringing in nearly $700,000, and ending the quarter with nearly $1.5 million available.