No Bull Wool: Adam Wool, pictured above, has filed for the regular primary election for U.S. House. He’s already in the special election primary, which is now underway, and he is polling at about 2 percent, but there’s time. It’s 31 days until June 11.
Deadlines: The deadline to register to vote in the Special Primary Election is May 12. Register or update your info here: https://voterregistration.alaska.gov
Revak gets another hall pass: Josh Revak, running for Congress to replace Don Young, has asked for another excused absence from Senate work that lasts through Sunday. He has been about a 50 percenter in the Senate since declaring his run for Congress. Full paycheck and per diem, though, so there’s that.
“WordPress AF” guy on Revak: Commentary on Josh Revak’s rant about Santa Claus being a “commie” and a “fraud” caught the attention of a commentator on Twitter, who thought going after Santa with a stick was by far the craziest thing yet.
Changing language: Abortion is the big issue for the 2022 election cycle, with the pending Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Anchorage Daily News, which is the newspaper of record for the state, is no longer calling it “abortion” in its news stories. Now it’s called “access to abortion care.” In the way Planned Parenthood calls it “removing pregnancy tissue.”
Palin gets dissed by lamestream bloggers: While critics in Alaska merely remark about the competence of Sarah Palin when she was governor, former John McCain campaign strategist Steve Schmidt has written a savage take-down of Palin, and he also plows under the McCain family a few times in his shocking essay on his Substack account. Clearly, he has Palin Derangement Syndrome. Read it here.
It’s worth noting that neither Steve Schmidt nor Sarah Palin, who hate each other, were invited to John McCain’s funeral.
Then Newsweek and New York Times writer Seth Abrahmson then piled on with more alleged Russia plot tied to Palin during the Trump campaign. Lunatic fringe stuff from leftist writers who have nothing to write about now that Trump isn’t in the White House.
Patience, Grasshopper: Alaska Democrats are strongly hinting they have someone from their party who is about to step up and challenge Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the moderate Republican. Their last candidate, State Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, quit after just a few weeks. The Democrats are telling people to “stay tuned,” and “there is another.”
TV ads running: Nick Begich, Mary Peltola, and Tara Sweeney, all running for Congress, have television ads that began running this week. Here are the ads, as they appear on YouTube:
Santa Claus endorsed by Ray Metcalfe: The Democrat at times known as Disco Ray has endorsed Santa Claus for U.S. House because he’s a Sen. Bernie Sanders guy. Metcalfe served in the Alaska House of Representatives as a Republican from 1979-1983, and he later ran for U.S. Senate as a Democrat, but lost.
In a note to his email list, Metcalfe wrote:
“Don’t laugh, it’s not a joke. Years ago, North Pole Alaska resident Thomas O’Connor officially changed his name to Santa Claus. He is on your ballot and he is committed to supporting Bernie Sanders agenda. He has been twice elected to North Pole’s City Council, has has a background in law enforcement, and he is committed to Bernie’s agenda. Open-up that ballot and vote for just one candidate; Santa Clause. And forward this note to your Bernie supporting friends.”
More from Alaska Survey Research Poll:
Sarah Palin (R) 19%
Nick Begich (R) 16%
Al Gross (I) 13%
Santa Claus (I) 6%
Christopher Constant (D) 5%
Mary Sattler Peltola (D) 5%
Josh Revak (R) 4%
Tara Sweeney (R) 4%
Jeff Lowenfels (I) 3%
John Coghill (R) 2%
Andrew Halcro (I) 2%
Adam Wool (D) 2%
Local politics, Anchorage style: Daniel Volland, running for Anchorage Assembly for the new downtown 12th seat, is worried that so many others have signed up for that race. He said, “Now that North Anchorage finally has equal representation, we need an Assemblymember who will advocate for the priorities of District 1 and not simply be a rubber stamp for the Bronson administration.” He is, of course, referring to Stephanie Taylor, who just announced she’s running for the 12th seat.
Read: Notes from the campaign trail II: Palin a no-show in Bethel
Read: Notes from the campaign trail 1: Ballots coming in
