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RNC forms election integrity committee to push for more secure elections

Suzanne Downing
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26
RNC forms election integrity committee to push for more secure elections

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced today the formation of the new Committee on Election Integrity, which will focus on election transparency and ensuring voters have confidence in future election processes. 
 
“Election integrity is one of the most critical issues we face as a Party and as a country. What we saw this past election – states undoing important safeguards, bypassing the proper legislative processes, and changing election laws in the eleventh hour – was deeply troubling and brought chaos and uncertainty to our sacred democratic processes. As RNC Chair, I will not sit idly by and the Party will respond. The RNC will play a crucial role in restoring confidence in our elections, promoting election integrity, and recommending best practices to ensure that future elections are free, fair, and transparent,” McDaniel said in a statement.

The Committee on Election Integrity will be chaired by Florida Republican Party Chairman Joe Gruters, with Ashley MacLeay, National Committeewoman from the District of Columbia, serving as Co-Chair. The full members include:

  • Jonelle Fulmer, State Chairman, AR
  • Lori Klein Corbin, National Committeewoman, AZ
  • Jane Brady, State Chairman, DE
  • Kathleen King, National Committeewoman, FL
  • Jason Thompson, National Committeeman, GA
  • Mike Kuckelman, State Chairman, KS
  • Mark Kahrs, National Committeeman, KS
  • KC Crosbie, National Committeewoman, KY
  • Lenar Whitney, National Committeewoman, LA
  • Josh Tardy, National Committeeman, ME
  • Nicolee Ambrose, National Committeewoman, MD
  • Barb Sutter, National Committeewoman, MN
  • Art Wittich, National Committeeman, MT
  • Debra Lamm, National Committeewoman, MT
  • Chris Ager, National Committeeman, NH
  • Tina Dziuk, National Committeewoman, NM
  • Lori Hinz, National Committeewoman, ND
  • Steve Curry, National Committeeman, OK
  • Andy Reilly, National Committeeman, PA
  • Drew McKissick, State Chairman, SC
  • Tom Schreibel, National Committeeman , WI
  • Frank Eathorne, State Chairman, WY

 This past cycle, the RNC ran its most comprehensive legal strategy to date, spending more than $30 million on election protection efforts in battleground states across the country.

The Committee on Election Integrity will continue the work of fighting Democrats’ attempts to change election laws, as they did with dark money in Alaska in 2020.  The committee will work closely with state parties and other stakeholders in elections across the country on voting policies and best practices, such as ensuring poll watchers are allowed to properly observe counting processes, and meaningful voter ID laws are codified.
 

Census data won’t arrive until September 30, and could foul up redistricting

Suzanne Downing
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3
Census data won’t arrive until September 30, and could foul up redistricting

The Census Bureau says the timeline for releasing the redistricting data to the states is now Sept. 30. That’s months later than the April 30 final deadline.

Usually, the data comes by February after the prior census has closed. A delay of this sort has major ramifications for elections in 2022.

The data the states await are the actual locations of respondents to the 2020 Census, including the demographic information down to the various block or “tract.” The data tells how many humans live in an area, their demographic information, such as race, ethnicity, age, and more. States use that information to redraw their political boundaries every 10 years in a process called “reapportionment” or “redistricting.”

Redrawing political boundaries is a political process fraught with partisan peril and lawsuits, but must be done in time for the 2022 midterm elections.

Some states have constitutionally mandated deadlines for completing their redistricting work. Alaska is one of those: The redistricting board must complete its draft map of the new districts in Alaska within 30 days, then hold hearings, and issue the final plan no later than 90 days after receiving the data from the federal Census Bureau.

At this point, it puts Alaska’s final map publication into the end of December of this year.

After the redistricting board issues the final map, the lawsuits generally begin from left-leaning groups that want a map that favors their political party. This lawsuit pattern holds true in Alaska and nearly all other states where Republicans are in the majority.

The other complicating factor is that candidates who want to run for office in next year’s legislative races can file for office as early as May of this year. Candidates in some districts that are certainly subject to changing boundaries, (for instance in Southeast Alaska or the Mat-Su Valley,) could find they are in a different district than the one they originally filed for, pitting themself against a candidate they did not intend to challenge.

“We are acutely aware of the difficulties that this delayed delivery of the redistricting data will cause some states. Some states have statutory or even state constitutional deadlines and processes that they will have to address due to this delay,” the U.S. Census Bureau noted.

The lawsuit phase of redistricting is always the wild card. The state court has always thrown out Alaska’s first attempt at a district in the past, making the board redraw the map with what are usually items that bring more voters to Democrat candidates.

The redistricting board is led by Chairman John Binkley, with Budd Simpson, Melanie Bahnke, Nicole Borromeo, and Bethany Marcum as board members. The board hired Peter Torkelson as executive director and TJ Presley as deputy director.

Mat-Su throws name in hat for Arctic Winter Games

Suzanne Downing
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8
Mat-Su throws name in hat for Arctic Winter Games

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough has entered a bid to be the host community for the 2024 Arctic Winter Games.

The Arctic Winter Games is a circumpolar sport competition for northern and Arctic athletes, celebrating sports, social exchange, and cultures. The Games provide an opportunity for athletes to compete in friendly competition while sharing cultural values from northern regions around the world.

The application was emailed last week and typically it takes about three weeks for completion of the review process before a decision is made, according to the borough’s website.

The 2020 Arctic Winter Games would have been held March 15-21 in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and would have been the 50th anniversary games, but the event was cancelled due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The next Arctic Winter Games are scheduled for next March in Wood Buffalo, located in far northeast Alberta, population 71,000.

Alaska has hosted the games six times; Fairbanks was the most recent host city, bringing the games to the Interior in 2014.

Tavoliero: One vote wonders

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
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14
Tavoliero: One vote wonders

By MICHAEL TAVOLIERO

One vote.

What difference can one vote make?

I’m not a history buff, as some of you are, so I am sure there are other stunning examples in the history of the world where one vote made all the difference.

One example was Andrew Johnson’s impeachment conviction.  He was not convicted because the Senate was one vote shy of the two-thirds necessary. 

Another was in 1876.  It was one vote that ultimately made Rutherford B. Hayes the 19th president of the United States.

In recent history, the effects of one vote are even more breathtaking.  

In 1973, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act passed the US Senate by one vote.

Can any Alaskan imagine if it didn’t?

Do remember you the 60th vote (one vote in the United States Senate by an Alaskan) in the beginning of the 2010s?  That’s how we got The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank).

Don’t forget that in 2017 one vote in the United States Senate by an Alaskan prevented the repeal of Obamacare.

One vote!

Then there was that one vote on Feb. 11, 2021 in the Alaska Legislature.

What could that one vote do in Alaska?

  1. Because of one vote, for the third session in a row the Alaska House of Representatives with a majority of Republicans is controlled by the Alaska Democrat Party.
  • Because of one vote, a Republican-controlled Alaska state senate and Republican Governor agenda may never be realized.
  • Because of one vote, special interests may have open access to the State of Alaska treasury.
  • Because of one vote, the 32nd Session House Finance Committee has an “R” and a “D” sharing the chair, an “N/A” as the vice chair and then the makeup of the committee is 6 “R”‘s, 3 “D”‘s, 1 “I” and an “N/A”.  If you believe the “R”’s control the House Finance Committee, I have a bridge for you to buy. Keep in mind, the House Speaker is an “R” who has voted with the “D”’s since her election and the Committee on Committee’s membership is 3 “D”‘s and 4 “R”‘s, but one of those “R”’s is the House Speaker. Like the previously controlled sessions, Alaskans may see changes in not just the House Finance Committee membership but others as well if the Alaska Democrat Party does not get its way.
  • Because of one vote, special interests stopped Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration three constitutional amendments – the basis for a permanent fiscal plan. The three measures included: 1) protect the PFD; 2) enact a spending limit and savings rule; 3) require a vote of the people for any new tax or tax increase. 
  • Because of one vote, the State of Alaska will continue to use public funds to murder the unborn.  Alaska spent public money to kill 570 unborn out of the 1,270 unborn who were killed in 2019.
  • Because of one vote, the State of Alaska will continue one of the lowest performance examples and one of the one of the highest cost examples of public education in the nation.  
  • Because of one vote, the State of Alaska will continue to have one of the lowest public college performances along with one of the highest costs.  
  • Because of one vote, the outcome of the post education may result in lower lifestyle expectations and loss of income and more debt for Alaska’s future, especially if employment opportunities are relegated to the largest employer in the state, government, and not the private sector.
  • Because of one vote, the Janus and Espinoza decisions addressing government unions and public education funding may not be implemented across Alaska.  
  • Because of one vote, the Alaska House of Representatives may continue to make health care and education the largest components in the operating budget, thus making government the largest component in Alaska’s economy. 
  • Because of one vote, post Covid-19 expectations to the current public education shutdown may yield the highest debt to income ratio disparities ever seen in Alaska with no remediation planned.  Alaska’s future work force may see the lowest earnings projections against the highest cost of living in the history of the state.
  • Because of one vote, without the Alaska legislature prescribing judicial jurisdiction limitations, post Covid-19 litigation liabilities may abound as the number one source of personal injury and business liability litigation in the state.
  • Because of one vote, government spending (redistribution of wealth) and regulation as the main source of employment for the construction industry as well as all support industries may continue as the predicate for economic development in Alaska and not the private sector. 
  • Because of one vote, government may continue as the largest employer in the state, nullifying community and economic development opportunities for the private sector.
  • Because of one vote, the institution of an income tax or sales tax or both may continue to be the current legislative dialog and intent with no accompanying accountability for a bloated budget.
  • Because of one vote, eligible Alaskans may not receive the full overdue balances of their 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 PFD’s. 
  • Because of one vote, the PFD may end.
  • Because of one vote, the Permanent Fund may be raided.
  • Because of one vote, ______________________.

Because of one vote.

Michael Tavoliero is a realtor at Core Real Estate Group in Eagle River, is active in the Alaska Republican Party and chairs Eaglexit.

Dunleavy to appeal case of bloggers vs. governor

Suzanne Downing
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24
Dunleavy to appeal case of bloggers vs. governor

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has notified the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that he will appeal the decision of a federal judge who said Dunleavy must put specific political writers on his press notification list and notify them of any opportunity he has for group meetings with the media.

The case pits the First Amendment rights of the governor against the news-gathering rights of independent media, such as those who run blogs. In this instance, it’s a media and entertainment limited liability corporation owned by Jeff Landfield, Cale Green, Paxson Woelber and Allison Hovanec. No one outside the corporation knows who funds the operation, but that may become discoverable if the lawsuit proceeds and the governor’s attorney convinces a court that the group is not actually independent media.

That case may put the group’s side work in peril. Green is the campaign manager for Bill Evans for Mayor, and Paxson Woelber does design work for many political clients, including having been the designer for the Dunleavy for Governor campaign in 2018, when he created a series of iconic signs and logos for the governor. Landfield also takes money to run campaigns, as recently as the last election cycle, and occasionally runs for office himself, most recently during the last election cycle. The issue of them being political entities, now trying to appear as independent media, becomes relevant for discovery.

Like the Alaska Landmine, The Midnight Sun AK blog is run by a registered lobbyist and Democrat campaign strategist and manager — Jim Lottsfeldt of Lottsfeldt Strategies. Other political blogs in Alaska are also run by partisan interests. Must Read Alaska is a conservative blog whose owner does not run campaigns on the side.

Judge Josh Kindred, a President Trump appointee who serves on the United States District Court, ordered the governor to include the Alaska Landmine LLC in press briefing notices and in press conferences. The State may view this as an infringement on the political free speech of the governor, by forcing him to give audience to anyone who starts a publication of any weight.

“The balance of equities tips in Plaintiffs’ favor as the requested relief—to add Mr. Landfield’s email address to a media distribution notification list that he has been on before—is not onerous, and, without this email notification, Plaintiffs may not learn of scheduled press conferences in time to participate. The Court finds generally that allowing Plaintiffs to attend press conferences so that they can report to the public is in the public interest,” Kindred wrote.

“Therefore, it is ORDERED that Defendants include Plaintiffs on the email distribution list of members of the “traditional media” in the sense that phrase is used by Defendants, when Defendants invite journalists to gubernatorial press conferences and other press events.”

Katie Hurley, clerk of Alaska’s Constitutional Convention, has passed

Suzanne Downing
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4
Katie Hurley, clerk of Alaska’s Constitutional Convention, has passed

Katie Hurley, who served as the chief clerk of Alaska’s Constitutional Convention, has died at age 99.

She was born Olga Katherine Torkelsen in Juneau on March 30, 1921 and was raised in Juneau, living in “the flats” area of downtown, and graduating from Juneau High School. She worked as the secretary to Territorial Gov. Ernest Gruening, and then became Chief Clerk to the Constitutional Convention, which convened at the University of Fairbanks in 1953.

She then became secretary to the Alaska Senate for five terms.

A diehard liberal Democrat, she ran for State House as a Democrat from Wasilla, and was elected in 1984, but was defeated in 1986 by Curt Menard, a Republican. For many years she lived in her home on the shores of Wasilla Lake, close to the big Fred Meyer that was eventually built nearby.

Sen. Jesse Kiehl read a tribute to Hurley on the floor of the Senate on Feb. 22, 2021, a day after her passing:

Bias watch: ADN moves into full advocacy mode for recall of Gov. Mike Dunleavy

Suzanne Downing
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29
Bias watch: ADN moves into full advocacy mode for recall of Gov. Mike Dunleavy

If the Recall Dunleavy Committee puts out a press release, readers can count on the Anchorage Daily News to genuflect — with a front-page story.

Just one month since the Recall Dunleavy Committee won a front-page story about its “reboot” of the recall signature gathering, (which is to say they had lost momentum and needed to regain it), the group has gotten yet another front-page story intended to give the group the added momentum needed to reach the over 71,000 signatures required to put the question to voters.

All it took was a press release.

Back in January, the group had just over 50,000 signatures. Since the group hired signature-gatherers to stand in front of stores in Anchorage and the Mat-Su, the number has increased to what is now reported as 55,613.

Is this the new journalism standard that says every time the Recall Dunleavy group puts out a press release, the ADN will respond with a front-page story? It appears that way.

Keep Dunleavy, a group that formed a year ago, is still a viable entity and is ready to stand up as an active group if it’s needed, according to MRAK sources. The group was ignored by the ADN report.

Another group, called Stand Tall With Mike, is also registered with the Alaska Public Offices Commission, but was a legal team to fight the recall in court. It lost the battle in court to prevent the recall from proceeding and is not active.

Keep Dunleavy, like Recall Dunleavy, is not required to disclose its financial positions with the Alaska Public Offices Commission since there is no active campaign until the recall group files its signatures with the Division of Elections, and after those signatures are certified and a date set for an election.

Dunleavy isn’t the only governor operating under the threat of recall. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has been under even more pressure. The Recall Newsom group has gathered more than 1 million signatures. It only needed  900,000 to get the recall of the governor on a statewide ballot.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York is also facing a growing call for recall, after a coverup of his role in the nursing home deaths of thousands of New Yorkers who were forced to live with Covid-19 patients in proximity. He was a recent recipient of an Emmy Award for his press conferences.

The TV Academy in November presented Cuomo with the International Emmy Founders Award in recognition of “his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and his masterful use of TV to inform and calm people around the world.”

Read about former Gov. Pataki’s call for Cuomo’s recall.

GOP censure of Murkowski spreads across state as one-quarter of districts vote

Suzanne Downing
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52
GOP censure of Murkowski spreads across state as one-quarter of districts vote

The number of Republican districts that have censured Sen. Lisa Murkowski has grown.

As first reported at Must Read Alaska, Murkowski drew the censure of five Republican district organizations. These are subsets of the Alaska Republican Party. Last week, five districts had passed censures of Murkowski.

Over the weekend, an entire region of the state had passed an additional censure and the list of Alaska Republican Party subdivisions had grown to 15, including two Republican women’s clubs in the Mat-Su Valley.

In addition to the Region 2 censure, districts 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 23, 30, and 31 have passed separate-but-similar censures and the districts plan to bring the matter before the Alaska Republican Party at its March 13 State Central Committee meeting for a formal vote from the organization.

Murkowski voted to convict former President Donald Trump in the impeachment trial that took place in the U.S. Senate. He was acquitted, but seven Republicans, including Alaska’s senior senator, crossed over to vote with the Democrats to convict him on a single charge of inciting an insurrection.

Not all districts in the state have organized Republican Party groups, which involve grassroots activists who make up the base of the Party.

The Region 2 Republicans are asking not only for a resolution of censure against Murkowski, but a separate resolution with appreciation for the presidency of Donald Trump. The group is asking for the two resolutions to be voted on during the same SCC meeting, which takes place in Anchorage.

Murkowski votes ‘guilty’ but Trump is acquitted

Governor to quarantine after brush with Covid-19

Suzanne Downing
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13
Governor to quarantine after brush with Covid-19

Gov. Mike Dunleavy is self-quarantining after finding out on Sunday that he was was in close contact on Saturday with an individual who was later found to be positive for the coronavirus.

Dunleavy has not been vaccinated against the contagion, according to MRAK sources. He has publicly stated he will get the vaccine after all who need it (elderly, health compromised) have had an opportunity to get the series. Dunleavy is 59 years old and has had some heart health issues in the past.

After receiving a COVID-19 rapid test, the governor immediately went into self-isolation at his home in the Mat-Su Valley. The test result came back this morning and was negative, he continues to show no symptoms of the disease.

The governor is following the self-quarantine procedures set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services by remaining at his residence for a minimum of seven days, according to his press office.

“Like so many other Alaskans who have experienced a close contact, he will continue to fulfill his duties by teleworking from home and receive additional tests until it is certain he is free of the virus,” the statement read.

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