Notes from the trail: Mat-Su GOP women are with Nick for Congress, and March On women support Constant, Peltola

May 15, 2022

Valley endorsement: The Mat-Su Republican Women’s Club unanimously endorsed Nick Begich for Congress on Saturday. That follows endorsement from the Fairbanks Republican Women’s Club and a Kenai Republican women’s club. He’s on the way to collecting the whole set of women GOP clubs. Also on Saturday, Nick received an endorsement from Mayor William Overway of Kachemak City, a hamlet east of Homer. That makes seven Alaska mayors endorsing NB3, who was spotted at a fundraiser in Homer on Saturday, with about 45 people in attendance, after doing events in Homer all day, and this morning was spotted on a plane to Juneau for the forum on Monday at the Baronet Hotel Treadwell Room.

Palin Soldotna event a success: There was a long line of people getting their pictures taken with Sarah Palin at Ginger’s Restaurant in Soldotna. She gave a very short speech to lots of excited people who left with yard signs. It was an upbeat event.

Running on abortion platform: Al Gross, running for Congress, spent his Saturday rallying for abortion in Wasilla with about 20 people. Last week, he stood on a corner in Anchorage and rallied for abortion with a much bigger crowd. It’s his topic for this race, but he still can’t get the Democrats’ endorsement.

Chris Constant: Not to be outdone on abortion, the Anchorage Assemblyman who is running for Congress put a third-person statement on his Facebook page that was not very nuanced, expressing sentiments for pro-abortion “without exception” right up to childbirth:

Crypto endorsement: The HODL PAC endorsed Nick Begich for Congress. It’s a crypto political action committee that says it will support crypto-friendly congressional candidates who will at least consider crypto-friendly legislation.

The Irish vote: Santa Claus, running for Congress to represent Alaska, is the candidate doing more radio interviews than any other congressional candidate for Alaska. He was on the Must Read Alaska Show podcast two weeks ago and yesterday was on a radio show in Ireland — Sean Moncrieff’s “Newstalk.” It’s a nine-minute section available on Spotify.

District 35’s unique ballot: Those in Sitka have the most unique ballot of all, with Sarah Palin at the top left, and Santa Claus on the right. Our educated guess is that Santa is going to get more votes in this area of the state than Palin. At the 2016 Democrat Party caucus in Sitka, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders won by a landslide, with 77% of the caucus vote for president. Claus identifies as a Bernie independent, progressive socialist. Ballots in Alaska are alphabetized, but a different name appears in each one of the 40 House districts. Nearly all of the 48 candidates, then, will appear at the top in at least one district.

Alaska Women March On endorsement: The far-left arm (or one of them) of the Alaska Democratic Party has endorsed both Chris Constant and Mary Peltola for Congress.

Still Zooming with the Democrats: Alaska Young Democrats met via Zoom on Saturday, with guests Emil Notti and Mary Peltola, both running for Congress.

For the children: Heidi Drygas’ family is finishing a bout with Covid-19, so she has not been seen campaigning for a few days. Heidi is using her daughter to campaign for abortion, which is already (apparently) protected by the Alaska Constitution. Drygas is gubernatorial candidate Bill Walker’s running mate and she has been extremely diligent with masking. Juneau, where she lives, is experiencing an uptick in Covid cases.

Doubling down on anti-PFD: Bill Walker, who famously took half of Alaskans’ Permanent Fund dividends in 2016 and started the trend the Legislature has continued to this day, doubled down by thanking the House and industry lobbying groups for cutting the PFD again: “Thanks in particular to organizations working to rebuild Alaska that spoke up for fiscal conservatism, including the @alaskachamber, @alaskaminers, @AKAFLCIO, @AGCAlaska, @AKAlliance & @AEDCweb, and to the ADN Editorial Board for helping Alaskans recognize what’s going on here,” he said on Twitter. He is running for governor because his first term ended badly and he’s hoping for a second chance.

Making the rounds: Tuckerman Babcock, running for state Senate for the Kenai Peninsula, was invited to give presentation to Soldotna Senior Center on Thursday on the topic of ranked choice voting. He was also an invited guest at a community welcome dinner at Princess Lodge in Cooper Landing.