No sooner did the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly vote in favor of an all-mail-in election, than a petition with more than 1,800 signatures has emerged to defeat the measure. This matter looks like it’s headed for the ballot.

Norm Blakely, an Assembly member in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, only needed 1,362 signatures to put the question of mail-in-only elections to the voters. He says it’s not right that six people in the entire borough are making that monumental decision.

The petition is still available for signatures until Saturday, according to MRAK sources. It can be found at Nikiski Hardware and Alaska Trade and Loan in Soldotna. The group of activists behind the referendum will turn the petition into the Borough Clerk for signature verification on Saturday.

That’s where it will get tricky. The borough’s Clerk Johni Blankenship has been leading an effort around the state to move all boroughs to all-mail-in ballots, and she has become known as the champion and subject expert for that voting method, which is hotly contested between liberals and conservatives.

The Assembly had passed by the vote-by-mail ordinance on June 3 and again on reconsideration on June 16.

Mayor Charlie Pierce vetoed the ordinance, but the Assembly had enough votes to override him. If it stands, every registered voter in the borough will receive a mail-in ballot starting in 2021.

Alaska Republican Party Chairman Glenn Clary has named Miranda Strong of Lane Powell as the attorney for the party, upon the resignation of Stacey Stone Semmler, who has served as party attorney for the past four years.

Semmler had announced during the last State Central Committee that her workload at her day job at Weddle Barcott & Holmes was getting busier due to all the businesses she is helping due to the economic fallout from the COVID-19 virus.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank outgoing counsel Stacey Stone Semmler of Holmes Weddle & Barcott. She has worked hard to assist the Alaska Republican Party for the past four years. I have enjoyed working with her and expect to watch her continued success in future years,” Clary said.

“Many of you will remember that Lane Powell represented “StandTall With Mike.” Miranda has practiced in the area of administrative and regulatory law, with a focus on compliance,” said Clary.

Strong has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy with emphasis in legal studies and an master’s degree in public administration. She earned a JD from the University of Washington School of Law in 2012. She has served as an assistant Attorney General and special assistant to the Attorney General in the Alaska Department of Law – Opinions, Appeals, and Ethics Section. 

The House race for District 24 is shaping up to be quite a contest in the primary, which is the deciding election in this conservative district.

A fundraiser tonight at the Petroleum Club in Anchorage is key for candidate Tom McKay, who is challenging Rep. Chuck Kopp in the primary.

The fundraising picture shows McKay within striking distance. In the 30-day report at the Alaska Public Offices Commission, it appears that after McKay started his campaign on June 1, he raised $23,000 and has $10,000 in the bank to help his campaign reach voters during the final stretch toward the Aug. 18 election.

Kopp, on the other hand, raised $28,000 and had $27,000 in the bank, but he had spent $35,000, meaning he is $9,000 ahead of McKay. That’s a lot of money for the final push.

But there’s a twist. The day after the 30-day reports were due is tonight’s fundraiser for McKay, and it’s clear he’ll come even with Kopp for that final stretch: The co-hosts are filled with determined heavy-hitters such as Scott Jepson, Kevin Durling, Larry Baker, Joe Mathis, Mayor Dan Sullivan, and former Rep. Ralph Samuels, Bob and Jeannie Penney, and Portia Babcock. There’s even Chuck Heath and John Hendrix on the list of co-hosts. The event starts at 5:30 pm on the deck of the Petroleum Club on C Street.

Adding to the tension in this race is the news that Alaska Family Action is not giving its primary endorsement to Kopp this year, after the board could not decide whether it could still stay with him after he organized with the Democrats and put hardline abortion advocate Ivy Spohnholz and Matt Claman in charge of key committees: Health and Social Service and Judiciary committees.

Board member Fred Dyson issued his own endorsement of Kopp, but others on the board have been reluctant because, Must Read Alaska has learned, Kopp is seen as perpetuating one of the biggest problems in Alaska when he defended the soft-on-crime bill SB 91, and because he has allowed the House to be run by Democrats.