Kelly Tshibaka, who announced her candidacy for Senate on Monday, has put together a rockstar campaign team for her challenge to Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
That team includes former President Donald Trump’s top campaign professionals from 2020: Campaign manager Bill Stepien, deputy campaign manager Justin Clark and battleground states director Nick Trainer, as well as Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh, who has a company called Line Drive Public Affairs.
Stepien, Clark, and Trainer make up the firm National Public Affairs, and they are serving as senior advisers to Tshibaka.
In addition, Tshibaka has an in-state campaign team led by former Murkowski campaign consultant Mary Ann Pruitt, the principal at PS Strategies. Pruitt was formerly associated with Murkowski and, in fact, placed all the media for the 2016 Murkowski campaign; she was also in charge of the field and ground game for a portion of the campaign.
While none of that star power guarantees a Trump endorsement this early in the campaign season, the national team led by Stepien is the equivalent of the Trump Train that appears to be coming for Murkowski.
Trump has vowed to help retire Murkowski in 2022: “I do not know where other people will be next year, but I know where I will be — in Alaska campaigning against a disloyal and very bad senator,” he told reporters this winter.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski has a serious challenger for the 2022 election. Former commissioner of Administration Kelly Tshibaka announced her candidacy on Seward’s Day, March 29. She made her announcement on Fox News early in the morning.
Her website, KellyforAK.comwent live with a five-minute video that hits Murkowski hard on the issues and on being a DC insider.
Tshibaka was born and raised in Alaska, left for college. She was the acting inspector general for the Federal Trade Commission, served as counsel to the Inspector General in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and in the Office of Inspector General within the Justice Department. She was the chief data officer for the Inspector General of the U.S. Postal Service Office under both former Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama.
She returned to Alaska to join the Dunleavy Administration in 2017, but said that when the Alaska Republican Party censured Sen. Murkowski earlier this month, she felt it was time to step up and offer to run. Many Alaskans had suggested that she do so and there was a “draft Kelly Tshibaka” movement under way.
The Alaska Republican Party had issued the harshest censure against Murkowski that any state party has done after seven Senate Republicans voted to convict and remove President Donald Trump — after he was no longer president.
Murkowski will be a formidable challenger. She has won reelection twice and has more than $1 million in her campaign war chest for the 2022 midterm election. She also has the support of her Senate colleagues, including a surprising statement on Sunday by Sen. Dan Sullivan, who told ABC News that he would support her if she ran. Murkowski has an experienced political team, strong ties in every community in Alaska, and is a household name.
Tshibaka is not part of the political establishment and sees herself as a new voice and a new generation of Alaska conservative.
“We know what Washington, D.C. thinks about Alaska: We’re here for their benefit, and we won’t put up much of a fight. After nearly 20 years in D.C., Lisa Murkowski thinks the same way,” Tshibaka said in her campaign launch video. “But you know what? Nothing scares the D.C. political insiders more than the thought of a strong, independent Alaskan leader in their ranks. One they can’t bully. One they can’t control. One they can’t silence. I believe in a better future for Alaska. One we can rise up together and rebuild.”
Tshibaka says she is unapologetically pro-life, which distinguishes her from Murkowski.
Her timing shows bold confidence in her prospects, because most candidates who file wait until the first few days of a fundraising quarter; the next fundraising quarter starts April 1.
Tshibaka resigned from the Dunleavy Administration before announcing.
Out of seemingly nowhere this week, a bold campaign roared up to challenge Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Kelly Tshibaka took the political establishment by surprise and set up what may be the most-watched race of the midterm elections.
Tshibaka (rhymes with Chewbacca), until Monday was the head of a state agency in Alaska. She announced her candidacy with afresh website and stunning video, and appearances on national television and talk radio.
The announcement may not have surprised Murkowski, who has been watching Tshibaka rise for weeks, as her potential rival’s name started appearing in Alaska political circles. A “draft Tshibaka” has been circulating.
But the launch rollout had to have made an impression on the Washington political warhorse.
Tshibaka was firing on all cylinders with her campaign. She was on Fox News. The Associated Press carried the story. This was well-coordinated, professionally done — a solid start.
The political chatter in Alaska is, “Others have tried. Can Tshibaka do it?”
Perhaps. Like Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York, Tshibaka is a new generation of conservative.
The mother of five has frontier roots and a purely American story. Born and raised in Alaska, she came from humble beginnings. Her young parents had moved to the state and for a while were homeless and living in a tent, while they sought to establish themselves in the harsh 49th state. Tshibaka attended school in Anchorage, and then it was off to Texas A&M, and Harvard Law.
The young Alaskan was recruited into federal service, where she became a watchdog against waste in government agencies and grew familiar with data analytics for detecting government fraud.
She married a man whose father had come to America as a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The two started a family and moved home to Alaska.
By contrast, Murkowski is the old guard of Alaska politics. A former state representative, she first came into the Senate when her father, former Sen. Frank Murkowski, installed her after he was elected governor in 2002. The Murkowskis are a dynasty political force in Alaska.
But Murkowski has never won Alaskans’ support with a majority of the vote. In 2004, she came close with 48.6 percent. In 2010, she held on with just 39.7 percent, and she won with 44.4 percent in 2016.
Unfortunately for Alaska, she is better known as a reliable vote for Democrats. She openly opposed President Trump, who has majority support in Alaska. This year, she voted to convict him for inciting a riot.
Then on President Joe Biden’s first day in office, the new president shut down Alaska’s already crippled economy when he put a moratorium on drilling in Alaska, costing the state thousands of jobs. Murkowski said it concerned her.
Finally, the Alaska Republican Party back home had had enough. It voted the harshest rebuke possible of any of the censures issued around the country for the seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump.
Members of the Alaska Republican Party said they’d prefer to see a Democrat in that seat than to see Republican values disrespected for six more years. At their State Central Committee meeting in March, some spoke to this writer and said they’d be willing to blow the party apart over Murkowski.
They didn’t have to – the vote was 77 percent to ask Alaska’s senior senator to stop identifying as a Republican, and to stop running as one.
It won’t be that easy for Tshibaka. “Ballot Measure 2” is a wild card for Alaska. It created a curious new voting scheme, with an “open” jungle primary followed by a ranked choice ballot in the general election. With this method, every ballot will have to be tabulated by a machine; there can be no hand count or audit.
This new voting method, a Rube Goldberg-type contraption if there ever was one, has never tried before in the country. It was designed by Murkowski’s former campaign team to ensure the senator would not have to face a Republican primary.
Yet with the big political money from outside Alaska promising “better elections,” Alaskavoters passed the experimental scheme.
It’s all but certain that the 53 percent of Alaska voters who voted for Trump in November are not going to vote for Murkowski in 2022; she has lost these Alaskans.
The Democrats are also gunning for Murkowski. They have seen the polling, sense she is weakened, and have promised for months to launch a candidate. If she is going to be removed in midterm elections, Alaska Democrats want to be the party to do it.
Nothing is certain this early in the election cycle, but this: Tshibaka came out of the gate strong and confident. Although she has a challenge ahead of her, Tshibaka represents an exciting new generation of conservative for a state that may be ready for change.
Billionaire Petr Kellner, who is the wealthiest person in the Czech Republic, was on the helicopter chartered for a heliskiing excursion that crashed near the Knik Glacier, according to the New York Times.
Kellner, 56, Benjamin Larochaix, also of the Czech Republic, and two of Tordrillo Mountain Lodge guides — Gregory Harms and Sean McMannany — all died, along with the helicopter pilot Zach Russel.
The lone survivor is in serious but stable condition, according to the Alaska State Troopers.
The helicopter was reported overdue at 10 pm on Saturday. Debris could be seen near the Knik Glacier and the airspace around the crash site was put under a temporary flight restriction on Sunday so rescuers and recovery could take place.
Greg Harms was an heli-skiing pioneer, who guided trips all over the world. He lived in Colorado but was extremely experienced in Alaska. Sean McMannany was a local guide from Girdwood who has heliski guide for 10 years and who was an avalanche instructor and experienced Denali mountain guide.
Kellner and Larochaix were longtime frequent guests of the lodge, whose owners considered them friends.
The official statement from Tordrillo Mountain Lodge reads, “On the afternoon of Saturday, March 27th, a helicopter crash occurred during operations. On the aircraft were Tordrillo Mountain Lodge guides, guests and a pilot from Soloy Helicopters. It is with deepest sorrow we report that only one member of the group of 6 survived the accident. This news is devastating to our staff, the community in which we operate and the families of the deceased. In 17 years of operations this is the first time we’ve had to face an event of this measure. Please be mindful that information at this time is limited and more information will be provided once the authorities in Alaska return to the accident site and all the families are properly notified. Our deepest condolences go out to the families and friends of those who died in this tragic event.”
The crash took place in in transport, and Soloy helicopters of Wasilla was the operator.
On ABC News on Sunday, Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan said that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris should go to the border between Texas and Mexico “to see what we saw.”
In response to a question from ABC’s Jon Karl, Sullivan said, “It’s heartbreaking, what you see. And it’s shocking. And what I’ve been calling for, in a respectful way, I try to work in a bipartisan way, is for the president, for the vice president to come down and to see what we saw, to hear what we heard from officials who are on the front lines. But I would disagree with Kate [White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield] on a number of things. There is an open border policy. There is a catch and release policy. And these were changes that the Biden administration instituted.
“And here’s the thing, they were warned. We talked to the officials who briefed the Biden team during the transition. They were warned that if they undertook these major policy changes, getting rid of, for example, the remain in Mexico policy, and making sure that exceptions to Title 42 for families bringing 6-year-olds or under, and for unaccompanied minors, if they made those changes, which they did, that they would see this surge.
“So to me it was shocking. I think the president and the vice president need to go down there, see what I saw, see what the other Republicans and Democrat congressmen are coming down there. There are things that we can do immediately to address the challenges there. But right now it is open borders. It’s a humanitarian and also health crisis that we need to address.”
The president’s top medical adviser says that vaccinated parents should still keep their children in face masks while they are playing with other children, even outside.
“When the children go out into the community, you want them to continue to wear masks when they’re interacting with groups or multiple households,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday on CBS’ Face the Nation.
The comment came in a wide-ranging discussion about mutant variants of the Covid-19 virus, and how soon the nation can expect to open up.
Host Margaret Brennan asked Fauci, “So if parents are vaccinated, they still do need to be concerned about their unvaccinated children playing together in groups. Is that right?”
Fauci replied: “Yeah, the children can clearly wind up getting infected. When we talk about what you can do when you’re vaccinated, you can certainly have members of a family if the adults are vaccinated and you’re in the home with your child, you don’t need to wear a mask and you can have physical contact.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said children are less likely to spread the virus and when they do, and rarely experience illness from it. Yet, for many children, their lives have been diminished by lockdowns and mandates, including year-long school closures. The television interviewer did not address the adverse effects of the various government policies, including increased childhood anxiety, depression and obesity.
William Seward was always controversial. He was not exactly beloved by all who knew him in his day, and even in 2021, he has a few marks against him, with not so many devoted defenders.
Seward became a New York State senator for the newly launched Anti-Masonic Party in 1830. They hated the Freemasons; there were all kinds of conspiracy theories around the secretive group. After the Anti-Mason Party began to fizzle, he joined the Whigs, and was elected governor of New York.
Controversy continued. He worked across party lines, reaching out to Irish-Americans and proposing to fund Catholic schools for them. The new immigrants were keeping their children out of public schools, which were then using the Protestant King James Version of the Bible. Very controversial. His move to create state-paid parochial schools was not universally praised.
He ran for president against Abraham Lincoln and lost, which surprised him. But then he helped Lincoln with his inaugural address, and as soon as Lincoln was sworn in, Seward became Secretary of State.
Seward, a long-time abolitionist, championed emancipation for slaves, and later he engineered the purchase of Alaska from Russia. Once, he sold a seven-acre plot of land to Harriet Tubman, with whom he was friends until he died. Selling land to an ex-slave involved in the Underground Railroad? Quite controversial.
During the plot to assassinate the president, he was laid up in bed, after having been thrown from a carriage. His neck was in a brace, which was the only thing that saved him from certain death when a knife-wielding assassin broke into his home and slashed him repeatedly.
In 1869, Seward began an epic voyage to Alaska, beginning with a railroad trip across the country on the new transcontinental railroad. He boarded a ship in San Francisco, the Active, and sailed to Sitka. Alaska had only been in U.S. hands for two years when Seward visited as one of the first tourists.
Times are different now. White men are being redefined as universally evil. A statue was commissioned of William Seward by the Seward Statue Committee to mark Alaska’s sesquicentennial. Today stand in front of the Alaska Capitol in Juneau, with cheek scars and all, only to be critiqued by the far left because Seward is … controversial.
Protesters have their way with the statue of William Seward in Juneau.
By 2020, hardline Democrats wanted the statue gone, and an online petition was started to demand the removal of the bronze depiction of the man who petitioners call a “colonizer who contributed to the disenfranchisement of Alaska Native peoples.” Once again, Seward was controversial, but this time not because he was anti-slavery, but because he was a colonist.
In their words, “In this current climate, where other monuments depicting racists and representatives of slavery are being taken down across the country, Juneau should honor our Indigenous hosts whose land we stand upon and remove William H. Seward from the capital courtyard,” said the petition, signed by 1,942 people with a limited view of history and time itself.
Another petition quickly was launched, this one to save the statue, which challenged “the action of a small group of citizens wanting to dismantle all things that ultimately honors the peoples history … If this small group of individuals get their wish of the removal of this statue then it is going to do nothing to change our history and will only cost the people more money … The removal of the statue will only serve to increase the tension of the people on both sides of this issue.”
Although the petition to keep the statue in place was signed by 1,386 people, both petitions lost momentum during the tumultuous months that followed, when statutes were toppled and vandalized, as cities were looted and burned. The election of Joe Biden seems to have, ironically, tamped down the fury unleashed against white founders of the nation, at least for now.
Seward’s life is uniquely celebrated as a state holiday in Alaska on Monday, which means state services are shuttered for the day and state workers can get outside and enjoy the land that Seward purchased from people who, frankly, didn’t really own it, but who had an organized system of government that allowed them to at least transfer titles.
One of the many ironies is that slavery continued in the District of Alaska after the Civil War and the freeing of southern slaves. Alaska Native tribes raided and took slaves from neighboring tribes.
On Seward’s trip to Southeast Alaska, he very well may have witnessed slavery, but not had the cultural competency to recognize it.
Although slavery ended with the 13th Amendment on Dec. 18, 1865, when Alaska was purchased, little was known about the ubiquitous human trafficking that continued in far-off Alaska for decades to come.
Nike has allowed performing artist Lil Nas X to create a limited edition “Satan shoe” that is said to contain a drop of human blood. The shoes are called Nike Air Max 97s.
Nike says that while the shoes are sold as Nikes, the company has nothing to do with the creation or sale of the “Satan shoes.” But they do have a swoosh on them. And they are licensed by Nike.
Lil Nas X is a rapper and songwriter from Lithia Springs, Georgia. At age 21, he was named by Time Magazine as one of the top 25 most influential people on the internet.
According to TMZ, the shoes have a Bible verse on the side: Luke 10:18, concerning Satan’s fall from heaven. They also have the number 666 on the stern of the shoes, which have a suggested retail price of $1,018 and which come in a box that has a decidedly hellish theme. They are a concept made by viral product manufacturer MSCHF.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo is expanding his pilot program for the so-called “Excelsior Pass” that can be used for events at places like Madison Square Garden.
The vaccine passport was developed in partnership with IBM, and features technology that will operate much like a person’s “Wallet App” on their smart phone, with a QR code that can be scanned by ticket takers at venues. Many traveler in Alaska are used to using a QR code to board a commercial aircraft, as the code links to their ticket information.
The technology was used during the Brooklyn Nets game at Barclays Center on Feb. 27 and again at the New York Rangers game on March 2.
As of March 26, its use has been expanded and the vaccine passport will now be accepted at many events and venues statewide. Using the vaccine passports will allow New Yorkers to expand the number of people who can attend weddings, funerals, and catered events. Those that don’t use the technology will face restrictions.
The QR code will reference the state’s database of those who have been vaccinated against the Covid-19 coronavirus.
“We’re doing everything we can to vaccinate as many New Yorkers as possible, as quickly as possible, while keeping the infection rate down and reenergizing our economy in a safe, smart way,”Gov. Cuomo said in a press release.“As we begin reopening the valves on different sectors of our economy, we are putting guidelines in place to ensure individuals attending events involving larger gatherings have tested negative for COVID or have been vaccinated to avoid an outbreak of the virus. The Excelsior Pass will play a critical role in getting information to venues and sites in a secure and streamlined way, allowing us to fast-track the reopening of these businesses and getting us one step closer to reaching a new normal.”
“This solution can provide New York, and other states, a simple, secure, and voluntary method for showing proof of a negative COVID-19 test result or certification of vaccination. IBM is proud to support the State of New York with its efforts to apply innovative technologies to help residents and communities respond to COVID-19,” said Steve LaFleche, General Manager of IBM Public and Federal Market.
“The technology is flexible and built to scale, allowing other states to join and help foster a safer, trusted transition to a post-pandemic reality,” according to the New York Governor’s Office.
Critics cite privacy concerns, and say that it also creates a digital bias against those who don’t have smartphones. Further, there are concerns about how the information may be used by various government agencies.
