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Dunbar’s dark money: What could go wrong?

Anchorage Daily Planet
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Dunbar’s dark money: What could go wrong?

By ANCHORAGE DAILY PLANET

When you take a look at the staggering list of Forrest Dunbar’s union support for his mayoral bid, and realize an attack ad aimed at his opponent Dave Bronson is financed almost entirely by an Outside group, you have to wonder:

If Dunbar were to win the mayoral runoff election that ends May 11, who is Dunbar really going to represent?

The group behind the ad, “Building a Stronger Anchorage,” is actually The Sixteen Thirty Fund. It is based in Washington, D.C., and gave Building a Stronger Anchorage nearly its entire $35,000 campaign war chest, Alaska Public Offices Commission records show.

Who or what is The Sixteen Thirty Fund? Hayden Ludwig, writing in Politico, says:

“The Sixteen Thirty Fund is essentially a subsidiary of Arabella Advisors, a Washington, D.C.-based firm and a veritable Geppetto, the fictional woodcarver and puppeteer whose creation, Pinocchio, involves him in all sorts of mischief.

“Besides offering consulting services to wealthy left-leaning clients, Arabella provides a unique service to the professional Left through four major nonprofits.

“Of these four nonprofits, the Arabella-run advocacy group—the Sixteen Thirty Fund—might be called the darkest of ‘dark money’ nonprofits.”

Good grief. With friends like that….

Golly, if unions, The Sixteen Thirty Fund, and anonymous purveyors of dark money are in love with Dunbar, what possibly could go wrong for Anchorage if he were to be elected?

It’s official: Congressman Don Young files for reelection

Suzanne Downing
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It’s official: Congressman Don Young files for reelection

Congressman Don Young and Anne Young stopped by the Division of Elections in Anchorage on Tuesday and filed for the 2022 election. Young has been Alaska’s member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1973 and is the longest continuously serving member of the House.

In 2017, Young became Dean of the House, the longest-serving representative and the first Republican dean in more than 80 years. In 2019, Congressman Young made history after becoming the longest-serving Republican in American history to serve in Congress.

In the 117th Congress, Young is Republican leader of the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States, in addition to his roles as the most senior member of both the Transportation and Natural Resources Committees.

“There is no doubt that this has been a difficult time for our state. The pandemic has devastated our tourism economy, the new Administration has forced new resource exploration to grind to a halt, and extremists from the Lower 48 have only grown emboldened in their goal of locking up Alaska,” Young said. “With attacks coming at our state on all fronts, Alaska needs a proven leader to stand up and fight for the people of our great state. This is not the time to take risks on someone untested and unproven. That is why I have officially filed for reelection to serve as Congressman for All Alaska in the 118th Congress.”

He continued, “I always say that this has never been about Don Young. This is about Alaska and the people who call our great state home. My constituents need and deserve representation that listens to them and brings the Alaskan perspective to DC; that has always been my mission as your Congressman. Together, we have secured many wins for Alaska. Whether it is constructing the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, strengthening the fishing industry, obtaining funding for Alaska’s infrastructure, or working together to protect Alaska Native subsistence rights and culture, I have proven how to get big things done.”

Young was elected in a special election following the presumed death of Rep. Nick Begich, whose flight disappeared en route from Anchorage to Juneau. A teacher and riverboat captain, Young served in the U.S. Army, and later as mayor of Fort Yukon. He was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1966 and served from 1967-1971 and in the Alaska Senate from 1971-1973.

In December, Young filed for reelection with the Federal Elections Commission, but candidates for federal office must also file with the State Division of Elections, and by doing so on Tuesday, Young answered the question on the minds of many politicos: Will he run again?

Although he has served for 47 years, this will be the first time he’ll face a jungle primary ballot, which means candidates of all parties and nonparties appear on the same ballot. The general election ballot will also be new in 2022, as it will require voters to rank their preferences from 1 to 4 of the four top vote getters from the primary. The new voting scheme comes from Ballot Measure 2, passed by voters in 2020 after a dark-money campaign by Outside liberal forces targeted Alaska.

HB 76 — governor’s emergency powers — could see 50 amendments in Senate

Suzanne Downing
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12
HB 76 — governor’s emergency powers — could see 50 amendments in Senate

House Bill 76, extending the governor’s emergency powers, faces a Senate debate, amendments, and vote on Wednesday. If Must Read Alaska sources are correct, it could be a long day. The bill faces as many as 50 amendments in the Senate.

House Bill 76 was offered by Gov. Mike Dunleavy back in January, and with no action taken by the Legislature, his emergency powers expired Feb. 14. He’s been able to continue to lessen regulatory burdens and have a successful vaccination distribution program only because he has a “live bill.” If HB 76 dies, the entire vaccination program crumbles, for starters. If Covid spikes with the summer tourism season, he won’t have the ability to redirect resources due to the bureaucratic red tape involved in medical responses.

There are a few in the Senate who absolutely opposed to the term “emergency powers,” because these powers seem to go on forever during the pandemic, and they appear as a threat to civil liberties. Some amendments will be along the nature of “end this Covid charade and get back to normal.”

The Senate, a more functional body than the House, is trying to achieve the art of the possible with HB 76, keeping very limited powers for the governor and giving him the ability to end the disaster.

What the governor needs, actually, are just four specific powers, but Alaska’s emergency powers laws are written as “all or nothing,” which is why there is so much contention between lawmakers.

The powers Dunleavy needs are boiled down to:

  1. An easing of procurement regulations around vaccines
  2. Ability to provide immunity to those giving vaccines. Many are volunteer health professionals)
  3. Being able to house Covid-positive people in non-medical settings like hotels to help them isolate
  4. Telehealth

To understand where HB 76 came from, one needs to wind the clock back to last year. The governor had emergency powers through Nov. 15, powers granted by the Legislature over a year ago.

But the Legislature couldn’t or wouldn’t call itself back into special session to extend that emergency power, and so the governor did two 30-day extensions to get Alaska through the worst of the Covid spikes over the winter, and into the legislative session, when lawmakers could act. Winter Covid spikes were worrisome as hospitals started feeling the pressure and vaccines were not yet available, as they are widely available today.

But although the Legislature has now been in session for 100 days, the House and Senate are still wrangling over the details of what it means to have emergency powers in this new year.

Complicating the matter is that once the governor files a bill, he cannot take it back. At this point, HB 76 is owned by the Legislature to mold how it wishes. This means the governor’s emissaries to the Legislature must keep an eye on the bill and try to help shape it into something that will benefit Alaska, but also assure Alaskans their civil liberties are protected. Ultimately, the governor could be handed a terrible bill that he might veto.

While the Senate debates HB 76, it appears the House Speaker may delay Wednesday’s floor session to “the call of the chair,” until the Senate completes its work on this critical piece of legislation. After that, the bill will either be passed to the House for concurrence or go to a conference committee to hammer out differences between the amended version expected from the Senate.

Dunbar is desperate: Assembly lifts Anchorage lockdown to rescue his campaign

Suzanne Downing
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33
Dunbar is desperate: Assembly lifts Anchorage lockdown to rescue his campaign

Assemblymen Forrest Dunbar and Chris Constant have seen the polling, and it’s not pretty for Dunbar, who is running for Anchorage mayor in the May 11 runoff election.

Dunbar is one of the most strident opponents of restoring normalcy to the Anchorage economy. It has hurt him with voters, according to polling seen by Must Read Alaska.

On Tuesday, the two men crafted an amendment to Emergency Order 20 that removes all requirements on businesses and lifts all gathering limitations. Constant offered it to the Assembly, it was seconded by Dunbar, and the Assembly passed it. This, after a year of refusing to lift the lockdowns.

The only lockdown measure that remains after Sunday night is the mayor’s mask mandate.

With public sentiment strongly against the acting mayor’s emergency powers, which has been in effect for over a year, Dunbar has worried. His campaign has no energy and has not been able to get traction due to his record of more than 20 votes to keep Anchorage in restraints.

Constant and Dunbar are joined at the hip on the Assembly and vote in lock step during every meeting. Constant did the heavy lifting on the amendment; he explained that he has been watching the death counts in Anchorage and that deaths have dropped off since December.

Constant said he has been all over the municipality and “I witnessed various stages of commitment to the mandates and requirements that exist, 50-50 at best, and still the numbers are coming down. Deaths has ceased at this time. Hospitalization down to a couple a day.”

Using his feelings as a barometer, he said it was time to rescind the restrictions. Constant also volunteers for the Dunbar campaign in his spare time and is his closest political ally.

The business community likely agrees. It has been vocal and visible in its opposition to Dunbar and this weekend a massive business-initiated fundraiser for Dunbar’s opponent, Dave Bronson, saw 450-500 business people come together to support Bronson. The group raised $39,000, even with the $500 per donor limit. No one remembers such a huge political rally in the history of Alaska since Sarah Palin was nominated for vice president.

Momentum has clearly been in the Bronson campaign, and a Hail Mary was needed for Dunbar.

Dunbar, in his campaign literature, has stated that 70 percent vaccination of the population is required to get the economy back on its feet. 70 percent is also the goal the acting mayor set in March for when she might lift the restrictions on Anchorage businesses.

But meanwhile, Anchorage shoppers have voted with their feet and are heading to the MatSu Valley for shopping, dining, and recreation. Some Valley businesses report their best year ever, while Anchorage businesses have closed by the dozens.

Now, Dunbar and Constant say they are ready for indoor gatherings to resume normally. That means graduations and proms, and it means sporting events can proceed with spectators.

This will also give Dunbar more of an opportunity to campaign, something he has been reluctant to do in person. Most of his campaign events have been via Zoom teleconference.

Constant pointed out that he has discovered that people in Anchorage are not complying anymore with the mandates anyway. It “is just not happening,” he said. Later in the meeting, he proposed converting all the mandates that had been lifted into recommendations.

Assemblywoman Allard said the vast majority of people testifying over the past many months have been opposed to the lockdowns. Allard asked for an amendment to terminate the emergency proclamation altogether, but her amendment failed 6-4.

Constant disagreed with Allard that the community opposes lockdowns.

“My constituents are telling me they are no longer coming to this chamber because it is not a safe environment for them,” Constant said into the record. His constituents do, in fact, support the mandates, but now, “We’re ready to move forward.”

Assemblywoman Meg Zalatel said it was too soon to lift the restrictions. She wanted a later date, effective at 12 am May 3, 2021, and her amendment passed, even though Dunbar wanted the easing of mandates to go into effect immediately, and he questioned her repeatedly as to why the city would have to wait.

The voters are already turning in ballots this week, and Dunbar is keenly aware that more than 4,300 ballots in the runoff have already been received by the Municipal Election Office.

There is nothing preventing the next mayor from going back into lockdown after the May 11 election, but for now, a frightened candidate will get the credit for what is at least a temporary lifting of the Anchorage lockdowns.

Juneau will conduct another mail-in election

Suzanne Downing
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7
Juneau will conduct another mail-in election

The Juneau Assembly on Monday voted to continue another year of vote-by-mail during the Oct 5 municipal election. Before the method gets locked in beyond 2021’s election, the Assembly has vowed to ask for public input.

The October 2020 election in Juneau was conducted by the Anchorage Elections Office, and that will repeat this year, costing Juneau taxpayers 56 percent more than traditional elections.

Juneau Assembly considers going vote-by-mail for future elections

Why is CNN trying to sway Alaska’s U.S. Senate race already?

Suzanne Downing
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21

Earlier in April, CNN was outed by Project Veritas for being a de facto wing of the Democratic Party and putting a big thumb on the scale of the 2020 presidential election.

The undercover video captured CNN Technical Director Charlie Chester saying, “Look what we did, we got Trump out. I am 100% going to say it, and I 100% believe that if it wasn’t for CNN, I don’t know that Trump would have got voted out. I came to CNN because I wanted to be a part of that,” Chester said.

The video is here.

Now, CNN’s opposition research department has the long knives out for an Alaskan who just burst on the national scene: Conservative U.S. senatorial candidate Kelly Tshibaka. 

Kelly who? Tshibaka (like Chewbacca) announced last month her run against incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski, and she’s obviously made CNN nervous. Thus, the media attack machine was sent in for the kill.

A CNN publicist reached out to Must Read Alaska to make sure this news organization saw the story CNN posted: Senatorial candidate Tshibaka is a conservative and should be framed as a Trump-supporter and — gasp — a Christian. 

It’s free and easy content, and comes with the CNN seal of approval. Most political blogs would bite.

According to the CNN’s KFile, 20 years ago in the Harvard Law School student newspaper, Tshibaka wrote that those who are gay should not be controlled by the ‘once-gay-always-gay’ rhetoric used to advance political agendas.” She also supported a group that ministers to ex-gay Christians and seekers.

The KFile also found a post on the internet years ago where Tshibaka said the “Twilight” book and movie series is “evil” and not something people should read because it “leaves us spiritually vulnerable.”

Twilight is a young adult horror-romance novel based on vampire mythology. For some, it is fantasy, but for conservative Christians, it’s normalizing horror fantasy for younger readers.

CNN also advises Must Read Alaska that Tshibaka “spread baseless conspiracies about the 2020 election, alleging widespread voter fraud in key states, which has been disproven.”

It is passing strange that a major news network would reach out to a tiny political blog published from “Somewhere in Alaska” to see if the blog would bite on that big scoop. We’ve never heard from CNN before, so why now?

Must Read Alaska has an average of 20,000 readers a day. Most of them live in a place considered at the edge of the earth for those in the national political realm.

Must Read Alaska, ranks 19,000 on Alexa’s U.S. ranking, while CNN ranks #92 worldwide. CNN has 5,400 employees, while Must Read Alaska has one and a half. Must Read Alaska’s portfolio is politics on the Last Frontier. CNN covers the world.

But the Murkowski-Tshibaka contest, CNN has determined, cannot be ignored. It’s the big race in 2022, and therefore it is important to attack the conservative challenger, and to do so now, so as to frame the narrative.

Although she has not been endorsed by Donald Trump, Tshibaka has a campaign team that includes many heavy-hitters from the Trump 2020 campaign — Bill Stepian, Justin Clark, Nick Trainer, and Tim Murtaugh of Line Drive Public Affairs. 

She’s from a great, big multi-ethnic family of Bible-believing, church-planting Christians, with family members stretching from Alaska to Republic of the Congo (her husband’s family immigrated), and she came from humble beginnings, with parents who started out in Alaska living in a tent. Tshibaka, brilliant from the start, managed to graduate from Harvard Law School and distinguished herself as a government watchdog. 

Tshibaka has a unique life story that CNN was not interested in telling. No mention of her African-American husband and children. No mention of her devotion to family and country. Instead, they packaged her as a Christian, and made that deeply held faith their point of attack.

It wasn’t just Must Read Alaska that CNN reached out to. The publicity department planted the story at other Alaska news organizations, most of which have already reported on Tshibaka’s Christian beliefs, as these were matters brought up by Democrats opposing her confirmation for Commissioner of Administration in 2019.

We’ve seen the CNN playbook — the one it used on Trump. We know the operatives disguised as reporters are gunning for Kelly.

CNN has picked a side in the Murkowski-Tshibaka race in Alaska. It’s the anti-Christian, anti-conservative side. They must be really worried about Murkowski.

Suzanne Downing writes at NewsMax, MustReadAmerica and MustReadAlaska.

Sorry, not sorry: Rasmussen decides PongGate needs more publicity legs

Suzanne Downing
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20
Sorry, not sorry: Rasmussen decides PongGate needs more publicity legs

Perhaps Sen. Lora Reinbold is getting too much attention. While House Finance members are wrestling with billions of dollars of state spending decisions, and a session that appears to be primed to move into a Special Session in June, House Rep. Sara Rasmussen wants to make sure the public sees her mug.

Not just any mug, but the specialty beverage mug with the words: “PantsGate” and “PongGate.”

During the Finance meeting on Monday, Rasmussen displayed her new mug prominently for the legislative cameras.

To make sure no one missed it, she then posed on the Capitol stairwell with her mug, again, with the words showing for the camera, and a “busy mom” message.

Rasmussen, who has been the center of controversy since arriving in Juneau this year, is using her past stumbles as a publicity stunt in the Capitol.

The mug refers to a joke that Rep. Zack Fields had made about Rasmussen’s body on the House floor, a joke that is now part of the official record of Alaska history.

That was the PantsGate part, in reference to Fields saying he was buying her a pair of sweatpants to cover up what he perceives as a traffic hazard: Her body.

After that incident in February, Rasmussen gave an emotional statement on the House floor about needing to be respected for her intellect and that she wants to be a role model for all people, including her children.

[Read: Fields apologizes, Rasmussen chokes back tears over sexist remarks]

The PongGate part of the mug refers to a beer party she and others legislators had on Capitol grounds, during which they invited select members of the public, and left a big mess for janitors.

[Read: Pong gate: Capitol party central update]

[Read: Beer pong, leg wrestling, and a terse memo from Legislative Affairs to clean up]

After her participation in the party, she gave an apology on the House floor for her bad judgment, but also said it was no big deal.

It appears it was all theater.

Former legislators, and some current ones, say they feel Rasmussen is disrespecting the institution and advised that she should not add “MugGate 04-23-6-2021” to the list of embarrassments that are associated with her service to the people of Alaska.

Dan Fagan: We need Dan Sullivan now, more than ever

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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Dan Fagan: We need Dan Sullivan now, more than ever

By DAN FAGAN

Leftists are – at their core – first and foremost – above all else – anti-Israel. 

So, it’s no surprise uber-leftist John Kerry leaked classified information to Iran, the world’s number one sponsor of terrorism and Israel’s biggest threat.  

Newly leaked audio reveals Iran’s foreign minister admitting Kerry told him about more than 200 Israeli covert operations in Syria while he was secretary of state under former President Barack Obama.   

Kerry currently holds a seat on Joe Biden’s National Security Council. 

It might surprise you to know Republican U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska was one of the first to take to the senate floor Monday and call for Kerry’s resignation. 

“This revelation is shocking and a betrayal of one of our most crucial allies in the world,” said Sullivan.  

Sullivan leading the charge against Kerry surprised some after he announced recently his endorsement of his colleague in the senate, Lisa Murkowski, if she ran for reelection. 

No one’s ever mistaken Sullivan with leaders like Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, or John Neely Kennedy. Unlike these three, Sullivan typically avoids fighting controversial battles where he might catch hell from the liberal media. 

But even with Sullivan’s low-key approach, many Alaska conservatives were shocked and infuriated after he described he and Murkowski as a good team. 

Many Donald Trump supporting Alaskans couldn’t believe Sullivan would endorse the former president’s chief antagonist. Especially after Alaska’s GOP leaders announced Murkowski would not be allowed to run as a Republican. 

Murkowski voted to impeach Trump, refused to approve one of his Supreme Court nominees, and single handily thwarted his attempt to repeal Obamacare. Murkowski voted against the repeal, giving the potential lack of funding for abortion as the reason.   

When Sullivan claimed he and Murkowski made a good team, many Alaska conservatives wondered whose team he was on.

But on Monday, on the Senate floor, Sullivan shifted back to conservative mode and went hard after Kerry for leaking classified military information to Iran. Sullivan sounded more like Ted Cruz than someone sympathetic to liberal Lisa. 

“It’s unclear why John Kerry would relate such information to the leaders of the largest sponsor of terrorism in the world, said Sullivan.” The secret information was given to one of America’s most sworn enemies undermining the interests of one of our most important allies, the state of Israel.”  

It’s hard to say if Sullivan was trying to repair his conservative street cred with Alaskans with Monday’s scorching senate speech calling for Kerry to resign. 

Sullivan was getting killed, even on his own Facebook fan page, for endorsing Murkowski. 

A couple of days after Sullivan’s praising of Murkowski, a poll was released showing 87% of the state’s Republicans disapprove of Alaska’s senior senator. 63% of all Alaskans are not happy with her.  

Sullivan may have miscalculated how unpopular Murkowski is with Alaska conservatives. Especially Trump supporting Alaskans. 

Sunday evening, Sullivan showed up for Anchorage mayoral candidate Dave Bronson’s packed campaign event giving a rousing speech endorsing the conservative.

Sullivan sounded like the same conservative he appeared to be during the campaign.  

It was like a kick in the gut for many freedom loving Alaskans when Sullivan announced he’d endorse Murkowski. Especially in light of authentic conservative challenger Kelly Tshibaka running. 

Sullivan may have endorsed liberal Lisa after Senate President Mitch McConnell of Kentucky did the same. McConnell is the embodiment of the Swamp and has the backing of some of the nation’s biggest donors. For Sullivan to go against McConnell’s wishes could have an impact on his standing with those who financially undergird the Swamp.

But we are at war. With the illegal Biden regime now in control in Washington D.C., Sullivan’s role as Alaska’s senator could not be more central to winning our cold civil war with Democrats turned socialists bordering on full-blown communists. 

Sullivan must up his game. He’s a Marine and and we know he’s a fighter. Monday’s bold speech on the Senate floor calling for Kerry to quit is the Sullivan we need for such a time as this.  

Sullivan must become more aggressive when battling the villain currently occupying the White House and the forces controlling him. He must put aside personal political ambitions and take a stand against the D.C. swamp. 

Our nation is under siege from an enemy within. These Marxists hate capitalism, the free market, free speech, and individual liberty. Their twisted goal of equity for all can only come with the stripping of our freedoms. They must be defeated. 

Sullivan needs to use the considerable power given to him by Alaska voters to fight this war, even if it costs him favor with the D.C. Swamp. 

Dan Fagan hosts the number one rated morning drive radio show in Alaska on Newsradio 650 KENI. 

First Presbyterian Church says you can come back in person — if you are vaccinated

Suzanne Downing
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44
First Presbyterian Church says you can come back in person — if you are vaccinated

The First Presbyterian Church of Anchorage is ready to welcome congregants back for in-person services, starting this Sunday, May 2. But there’s a caveat: You can only come inside the church if you are vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus.

Pastor Matt Schultz said the indoor service at 11 am will be for those who are vaccinated, or are under 16 years of age and not eligible for a vaccination, or who have a “compelling medical reason for not being vaccinated.”

Those who are not vaccinated can take part in the outdoor serve at 9:30 am, or they can watch the indoor service from their home on their computers via the church livestream, if they prefer.

Both services — indoors and out — will also require advanced reservations, social distancing, and masking. The singing during the service will be prerecorded.

Those wishing to worship at First Presbyterian must make reservations by calling 907-272-6411 or emailing [email protected] no later than Friday at noon.

“I am joyfully looking forward to this, and celebrating this first small, controlled step toward our family of faith meeting together again,” Schultz said.

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