The Alaska primary election is 57 days away, not a lot of time for unknown candidates to get their names known for voters who will face a dizzying array of candidates.
Case in point: At the Democrats’ Bartlett Club in Anchorage, they’ll host “Bob Walker” as their special guest on June 23, only the photo is of former Gov. Bill Walker, still working on that name ID with the Democrats, who are endorsing Les Gara for governor but still give former Gov. Walker, who they endorsed in 2014, a forum.
For the June 11 special primary election (Alaska’s only congressional seat), the vote counting continues Tuesday for the final tally, which will not change the ultimate final four appearing on the special general election ballot on Aug. 16: Sarah Palin, Nick Begich, Al Gross, Mary Peltola.
Endorsements: Nick Begich has received the endorsement of yet another legislator: Sen. Rob Myers of North Pole. That makes over 60 Alaska elected officials endorsing him.
Spotted in Fairbanks: Kelly Tshibaka for Senate was at the Fairbanks Midnight Sun Festival. The Republican candidate is on the trail for the U.S. Senate seat against Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
Spotted in Palmer-Butte: Nick Begich at the Alaska Raceway, above, shaking hands, admiring cars, and even getting to wave the flag to start the race. He is running for Congress in the final four for the Aug. 16 special primary election.
Spotted on the Anchorage Delaney Park Strip: Sen. Lisa Murkowski, posing for pics with Democrat Lt. Gov. candidate Jessica Cook and Democrat state Senate candidate Janice Park, running for state Senate Seat F against Republican James Kaufman.
The event was the Juneteenth celebration, also attended by Mayor Dave Bronson, who welcomed the crowd and opened the festival, which marks the end of slavery in America.
Also spotted at Juneteenth in Anchorage was Les Gara for governor. Former Gov. Bill Walker was in Fairbanks over the weekend.
Fundraisers: Sen. Click Bishop had a fundraiser on Thursday with a diverse collection of bipartisan support, including former labor boss Vince Beltrami, and former Senate Rules Chairman John Coghill.
The negatives: Al Gross for Congress is raising money nationally by bashing Sarah Palin on Twitter. He is in the right neighborhood, looking for the anti-Palin money coming through the Twitterverse, which is truly hostile to Palin. Gross is in third place, behind Nick Begich and pack-leader Palin for the congressional special general election on Aug. 16.
Not spotted: Sarah Palin has kept a very low profile, with no social media posts since June 14 for Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, except for the national news service she is using for her constantly updated Facebook feed filled with stories from the national scene.
Media coverage: A New York federal court of appeals on June 16 rejected Sarah Palin’s petition for seeking a new defamation trial against The New York Times. Story at this link.
More political events this week:
