Page 1508 – Must Read Alaska

Document drop: GOP Chairman candid report on District 15 race

Suzanne Downing

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September 6, 2018

Document drop: GOP Chairman candid report on District 15 race

BABCOCK SUPPORTS JAKE SLOAN, WRITE-IN CANDIDATE

Must Read Alaska got ahold a copy of a report written by Alaska Republican Party Chairman Tuckerman Babcock, which we understand was sent to the State Central Committee this evening.

In it, Babcock relays the party’s denunciation of Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, and his full-throated support for one write-in candidate in November: Jake Sloan, the David who is taking on Goliath LeDoux.

REPORT TO THE STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE

The race for State House District 15 was the most remarkable primary result of 2018.

Aaron Weaver, the Republican candidate, did not campaign.

He spent no money; no radio, no mailers, no signs, no social media, no forums and no door-to-door.

Gabrielle LeDoux, the incumbent, spent $73,000 plus. She walked relentlessly door-to-door. She had paid campaign staff (her legislative aides). She hired a mysterious operative Charlie Chang. We say mysterious because he is at once a Fresno California Democrat Party official and at the same time a registered Republican in District 15. She paid him $10,000 dollars to work the absentee vote and provided plane tickets for at least two trips to Alaska from California.

She lost on election day. She lost, despite spending $250 per vote to $0.

She “won” only after absentee ballots were counted. She somehow managed to lose on election day, but win the absentee count by 81 percent.

The absentee ballots in District 15 are tainted by what appears to be pre-meditated, possibly criminal, fraud.

-Seven (7) dead people applied to vote absentee.

-At least two people have confessed to the Division of Elections that they did not vote an absentee ballot (but someone voted for them because ballots in their names were mailed in).

– Twenty-six (26) “irregular” absentee ballots. Those ballots were counted separately — every one of the suspect absentee ballots were for LeDoux.

A KTVA reporter asked one owner of a Muldoon trailer how they could explain a half dozen registered voters at that address who did not live there. The owner of the trailer answered, you have to ask “Gabrielle.”

An ADN reporter asked a different person at a different trailer in the trailer park, how could he explain the more than half a dozen phantom voters registered to vote at his home? The man replied that you just have to ask “Gabrielle”

This may turn into the worst election scandal in Alaska history. The fraud looks bad enough that someone could go to jail — if law enforcement can pinpoint who is responsible.

Whomever is responsible; two people benefited. Charlie Chang, who Ledoux hired and paid $10,000 and LeDoux herself who “coincidentally” received 100 percent of the suspect votes.

She lost on Primary election day despite spending $73,000 to $0. Lost. And that was before the scandal over irregular absentee ballots broke. Gabrielle LeDoux is finished, politically.

There is a far-left, environmentalist, income tax, “Stand for Salmon” Democrat in the race who has never run for office before.

On the Republican side, Aaron Weaver decided to pass the baton to Jake Sloan. Jake Sloan is running an active write-in campaign and just in a few days has raised more than $4,000. He is committed to run hard and many neighbors are clamoring for signs, and actually calling him to ask if they can join him going door to door in their neighborhood. Unheard of. East Anchorage is apparently very eager to replace the disgraced LeDoux. We are committed to replacing LeDoux.

The final insult from LeDoux may have been the derogatory comment she made about the Hmong in her own District. When asked by a KTVA reporter to explain why the owner of a trailer in Muldoon would say ask “Gabrielle” about phantom voters, Gabrielle LeDoux replied,

“I have no idea why she (homeowner Laura Chang) would say that, and I’m really not even sure, considering that so many of the Hmong people’s English is not truly excellent whether she truly understood the question,” LeDoux said in response.

Unfortunately for LeDoux, anyone can listen to the KTVA tape: Ms. Chang understood the question and answered clearly. To save her own skin, Gabrielle would throw the Hmong under the bus.

There are many respectable individual Alaskans and PACs, including the Alaska Republican Party, that have supported LeDoux financially in the past. However, I can assure you that Alaska Republican Party will not be associated as a donor going forward and in any way be possibly connected with the scandal that has engulfed Gabrielle LeDoux.

Shame on the New York Times

Anchorage Daily Planet

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September 6, 2018

3

That the “official” who penned the whiny, anonymous New York Times hit piece about the Trump administration is a coward is undebatable. That the New York Times stooped as low as it has ever stooped in printing the piece also is undebatable.

In running the rambling, self-serving and fact-shy “resistance” piece, one of the nation’s largest, most prestigious news organizations allowed itself to be no better than the internet swamps where legions of anonymous commenters insult, backbite and hurl invective from the safety of their mothers’ basements.

The piece, “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration,” is bad enough, but what The Times did is worse, allowing itself to be cast – now unquestionably in many minds – as squarely in the ranks of political Left’s relentless march on the Trump presidency. Now, it seems, the newspaper will allow anybody to say anything about Trump or his administration as long it is bad, and then protect their anonymity; that it will do anything – even abandon journalistic principles – to hurt the presidency.

Read more at the Anchorage Daily Planet:

http://www.anchoragedailyplanet.com/131520/same-on-the-times/

NPR looking for GOP women to remark on Stormy Daniels

The 907

Suzanne Downing

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September 6, 2018

8

NPR looking for GOP women to remark on Stormy Daniels

REPORTERS WANT TO HEAR FROM REPUBLICAN WOMEN WHO VOTED FOR TRUMP

NPR editors are working on a story: It’s about women who voted for Trump and how they feel about it now.

This is the kind of story that news organizations put in the queue as they head for the midterm elections. It’s not evidence of bias in itself, but bias is often shown by the premise of stories that are pursued. In this case, the media manufactured a crisis about Stormy Daniels, and now the media wants to know if it’s working.

The NPR questionnaire, now posted online, asks Trump-voting-women participants to explain, in their own words, their views of the president and then has just one question: “Has President Trump’s alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels impacted your view of the president?”

Reporters want to know if those women are disenchanted with Trump and are regretting their votes. Will it help move them in November toward the Democrat candidates on midterm ballots?

All stories start with a premise in today’s post-New Journalism era. Reporters find the story they want to tell, and then find the people who will tell it.

Reporters could ask their friends or colleagues, but NPR reporters, and the entire Left, remain mystified that anyone would have voted for Trump in the first place, and they have no one in their spheres of influence who would have done such a thing. They have no one to ask and their friends in the liberal echo chamber are not of any help here.

Trump blew the minds of pollsters, pundits, and news purveyors, who expected Clinton to be carried on a throne to the White House by women voters.

To be sure, 54 percent of women overall who voted in the 2016 General Election went for Hillary Clinton, and 42 percent voted for Donald Trump. He is not wildly popular with the gals.

But it was black women who ended up voting for Hillary Clinton at higher rates than white women. 95 percent of voting black women with no college degree voted for Clinton, whereas 61 percent of white women with no college degree voted for Trump.

But those non-college listeners aren’t NPR’s target market. It’s the college-educated listener, the well-heeled donors that the taxpayer-funded broadcasting empire wants.

In that cohort, 51 percent of college-educated white women voted for Clinton, and 45 percent voted for Trump. Among college-educated black women, it was 92 percent for Clinton, and 6 percent for Trump.

Women in America who voted for Trump care about historic levels of prosperity, an unprecedented job market, national security, less intrusive government, judicial appointments, and tax cuts.

NPR appears to have just one concern for women who voted for Trump to focus on: Stormy Daniels.

You can take part in NPR’s story by sharing your thoughts with the news reporters here.

Where people know Mike, they like Mike Dunleavy

Politics

Suzanne Downing

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September 6, 2018

1

Where people know Mike, they like Mike Dunleavy

HOMETOWN KOYUK BROUGHT THE VOTE FOR DUNLEAVY

As a rural educator from the Arctic, and former state senator from Wasilla taking on a sitting governor and a former U.S. senator, Mike Dunleavy started out with lower name recognition than the other two candidates.

But where people know him in Alaska, they like him — and they vote for him.

In the village of Koyuk, population 332, most of the voters who picked the Republican ballot (Republicans, undeclared, and nonpartisan voters are able to do so), voted for Dunleavy.

It was 47 votes for Dunleavy, 2 votes for his opponent Mead Treadwell. He’s definitely got the Koyuk vote.

Dunleavy spent three years as a teacher in the largely Inupiaq village located on the northern bank of the Koyuk River as it flows into Norton Bay.

From Koyuk, Dunleavy went to Fairbanks and studied school administration and cross-cultural education at University of Alaska Fairbanks, before moving to Kotzebue to become a school principal and eventually a superintendent.

Of course, many in Koyuk lean Democrat, but Mark Begich, the state’s leading Democrat, only received 18 votes for governor. Bill Walker avoided the primary altogether because he felt he couldn’t compete against Begich.

Dunleavy did as well as Rep. Don Young when it came to overall number of votes in the primary in Koyuk. Young was the top vote getter across the state, but in Koyuk, they matched: Young received 48 votes.

In the District 40’s hub community of Kotzebue, Dunleavy swept 107 votes to Treadwell’s 24.

On the Democrat ballot in Kotzebue, which is one of Alaska’s Democrat strongholds, Begich did well with 145 votes.

HOW DID BEGICH DO IN HIS HOME PRECINCT?

Mark Begich, in his home precinct of East Anchorage, received 173 votes; he was unopposed on the Democrat ballot.

But Dunleavy handily won the overall votes in that precinct, where Begich grew up. Dunleavy took 228 of the 330 votes for governor on the Republican ballot, for a 69 percent advantage over Mead Treadwell, and 53 more votes than Begich received.

Recount Friday in Kenai House race

Politics

Suzanne Downing

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September 5, 2018

0

CARPENTER VS. OGLE REMAINS UP IN THE AIR

The 12 votes that separate Ben Carpenter from Wayne Ogle in the House District 29 race have prompted a recount.

The Division of Elections will recount the district’s votes on Friday, although the election was certified on Tuesday.

District 29 covers parts of Kenai and Soldotna, Nikiski, and communities as far away as Seward.

A petition asking for a recount was submitted to the Division on Tuesday by a group of Ogle supporters on the peninsula who were mystified that Carpenter, a newcomer to politics, could have won against a sitting assemblyman with good name recognition, who has served the borough since 2013.

As certified by the Division of Elections, Ogle won 1,360 votes and Carpenter won 1,372.

Felons voting? It might be more common than we know

Suzanne Downing

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September 5, 2018

2

Felons voting? It might be more common than we know

MORAL TURPITUDE IS STILL A DEAL-KILLER FOR CASTING A BALLOT … OR IS IT?

Rep. George Rauscher, District 9, flagged the Division of Elections last month after one of his constituents noticed something suspicious: A felon with a “moral turpitude” crime on his recent record was listed as having been able to vote.

That someone was not eligible to vote due to the nature of his crimes.

Rauscher called the Elections Office immediately, and wasn’t satisfied with the response. But ultimately he was able to get the answer to his question: The felon had indeed been able to cast a ballot in the primary.

The division told him that state workers had to look people up on CourtView one at a time to determine if they were ineligible to vote.

Incredulous, Rauscher contacted the Department of Corrections to find out why they didn’t simply send the lists of ineligible felons to the Division of Elections, like they always have done in the past.

The response was surprising:

“Regarding your inquiry about data DOC shares with Division of Elections for voting eligibility- while DOC historically has provided a bi-monthly data transfer of felons to the division, DOC received an email in February of this year from the division saying they no longer needed our data. Thus, we have not provided any information to the Division of Elections since February.”

In other words, the Division was now just going to register all to vote, regardless if they were eligible. The Permanent Fund automatic voter registration was all the Walker-Mallott Administration needed.

RAUSCHER CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION

Rauscher has formally requested that the Alaska Division of Elections investigate whether other felons who have had their voting right revoked, were in fact listed on the voter roll and able to vote Aug 21.

With the Permanent Fund automatic registration program, it’s possible that felons are simply being signed up as voters.

How many are legally allowed to vote, and how many simply assume they can vote because the Division has imported their data from the Permanent Fund Division, without cross-checking the data from the Department of Corrections?

Rauscher wants to know.

“Protecting the integrity of Alaska’s election process is of the utmost importance,” he said.

The Sutton representative has also asked for a statewide review of all precinct lists and that the Division of Election removes ineligible people before the November election.

Although the Division of Elections quickly removed the one felon’s name from the District 9 voter rolls, once alerted to the fact by Rauscher, “the fact that even one ineligible felon was erroneously considered eligible to vote deeply concerns me,” he said. “I urged the Division of Elections to take action as quickly as possible.”

WHAT IS A MORAL TURPITUDE CRIME?

In Article V, Section 2, of the Alaska Constitution, conviction for a felony involving moral turpitude results in a loss of voting rights, although there is a mechanism for restoration. It’s not automatic. By law, after the sentence is completed, an individual must re-register with the Division of Elections.

A list of crimes defined as involving moral turpitude appears under AS 15.060.010. It includes nearly all felony-level crimes, such as homicide; manslaughter; assault; stalking; kidnapping; sexual assault; sexual abuse of a minor; unlawful exploitation of a minor; robbery; extortion; coercion; theft; burglary; arson; criminal mischief; forgery; criminal impersonation; bribery; perjury; unsworn falsification; interference with official proceedings; witness tampering; jury tampering; terroristic threatening; possession or distribution of child pornography; unlawful distribution or possession for distribution of a controlled substance; unlawfully furnishing alcohol to a minor, and felony possession of a controlled substance.

[Read: Tens of thousands of voter files overwritten]

Former Alaska AG now at Interior Department

The 907

Suzanne Downing

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September 5, 2018

1

Gregg Renkes, who was Alaska’s Attorney General under Gov. Frank Murkowski, has been named director of the Office of Policy Analysis at the Department of the Interior, where he will be advising on issues that matter to the Arctic, including climate change.

Renkes resigned as AG in 2005, after the news media accused him of negotiating a coal deal that ended up benefiting a company he had stock in. He was able to clear his name and show that he had already disclosed his stock ownership to the Alaska Public Offices Commission, but the partisan attacks continued, which resulted in his resignation to protect his family.

Sarah Palin, who challenged Murkowski in the primary, used Renkes as one of her centerpieces to run against crony capitalism in the Murkowski Administration. She teamed up with Democrat Eric Croft in demanding an ethics investigation of both Renkes and Murkowski.

The position for which Renkes has been tapped at Interior was formerly held by a man who is a climate change warrior.

Joel Clement was moved to another, less glamorous and less powerful role after President Donald Trump took office, and he soon resigned in a very loud and accusatory fashion, saying he had been fired in retaliation. In fact, the Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke simply wanted to move in a new direction and clean out at least some part of what has become known as the “deep state,” the powerful regulatory bureaucracy.

Clement, who has a master of Environmental Studies degree from Evergreen State College in Washington, went on to join the staff of the Union of Concerned Scientists, where he continues to bash the Trump Administration.

Renkes served as staff director of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and was Chief of Staff to Sen. Murkowski. He worked for the U.S. Senate for 12 years, where he was involved in restructuring the U.S. electric utility industry, reformation of U.S. high level nuclear waste policies, and U.S.-Japan and U.S.-China Nuclear Agreements. In both 1996 and 2000, he helped write the energy platforms for the Republican National Conventions and served on the transition team for the Bush/Cheney White House.

A member of the Alaska Bar Association. Renkes earned his law degree from the University of Colorado School of Law, Boulder, a Masters of Science degree from Yale University, and a Bachelors of Arts degree from Vassar College.

Landslide club: Top Republican vote getters in contested races

Politics

Suzanne Downing

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September 4, 2018

4

Landslide club: Top Republican vote getters in contested races

THESE CANDIDATES GOT TWO THIRDS OF THE VOTE IN PRIMARY

Five Republicans who faced credible primary opponents ended up in the Must Read Alaska Landslide Club. They won more than two thirds of the vote in the August Primary Election.

But none topped Rep. Chris Birch.

Birch, finishing out his first term as a representative for South Anchorage, pulled in 78 percent of the vote for his bid for the Senate seat being vacated by Kevin Meyer.

His millennial opponent, Bekah Halat, who is facing charges relating to food stamp fraud, won 22 percent of the vote.

Birch’s landslide victory puts him in a good position to win in November against Janice Park, the Democrat, but there were other Republicans who also won more than 66 percent of the votes in their districts:

Rep. Mark Neuman, District 8, won 75.4 percent over a relatively unknown Andy Murr. Neuman, of Big Lake, has served in the Legislature since 2004 and was Finance co-chair under the previous Republican House leadership.

Bart LeBon, District 1, won 71.5 percent of the vote against perennial candidate Wolfgang Falke, for the Fairbanks seat being vacated by Rep. Scott Kawasaki. He’ll face Kathryn Dodge, the Democrat, in the General Election.

Chuck Kopp, District 24, crushed his opponent Steve Duplantis with 70.5 percent of the vote. Duplantis has since posted a video on Facebook saying he would welcome his name as a write in or he might even support Democrat Sue Levi. On NextDoor.com Duplantis also advised neighbors that if they find used syringes on their property, they should drop them in the yard in the yard of Rep. Kopp.

In Senate Seat E, Sen. Mike Shower won against Randall Kowalke, 68 percent to 32 percent. Shower had been appointed to the seat that was formerly held by Sen. Mike Dunleavy before Dunleavy left the Senate to focus on his run for governor.

Kowalke had been Gov. Bill Walker’s first pick for replacing Shower, but the District prevailed in a citizen-led rebellion against Walker, which deeply embarrassed the governor last winter.

In the statewide races, Rep. Don Young received 71 percent of the Republican vote, which is in the usual range for the congressman.

Begich: ‘It’s a three-way race, so get used to it’

Top News

Suzanne Downing

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September 4, 2018

10

Begich: ‘It’s a three-way race, so get used to it’

WALKER SAYS IN RESPONSE: IT’S A ‘RACE TO 40 PERCENT’

Mark Begich ended the suspense today, saying he is sticking with his race for governor. He made the announcement at his campaign headquarters in a strip mall at the corner of Benson Blvd. and Minnesota Blvd. Before he began speaking, the songs “Born to Run,” and Eye of the Tiger” were broadcast from the loudspeaker.

The room itself, which is diminutive to begin with for a campaign, was crammed with supporters who included many of the usual Democratic operatives and political figures: Assembly members Eric Croft, Chris Constant, senatorial candidate Elvi Gray-Jackson, Sen. Tom Begich and Bill Wielechowski, Rep. Chris Tuck, and even former Rep. Willie Hensley and former U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lindbeck. Bloggers Jeanne Devon (Mudflats) and Jeff Landfield (Landmine) joined the crew of media that included public broadcasting, KTUU, Anchorage Daily News and the Frontiersman/Anchorage Press.

Begich, in his typically jovial mood, was flanked by two dozen supporters holding signs that indicated why they were supporting their Democrat nominee: Crime, the PFD, abortion rights, and LGBT rights. They were pumped and resolute about their candidate.

Begich’s remarks were streamed on Facebook:

“For those who are wondering, I’m staying in this are for governor,” Begich said. “Let me make it very clear to the reporters and others. If you want to talk about the process talk to someone else. We are done with that. I’m in the race to win. It’s a three-way race, so get used to it. We are focusing on what this race is about: The people of Alaska. Alaskans will need to make their choice of who they will support, and vote accordingly. You cannot cut a deal on your values just to make sure one person or another becomes governor.”

That was the bad news for the candidacy of Gov. Bill Walker, who has the third spot in a race featuring someone who is a titan on the Democrat Party side, and another who is a force of nature for the Republicans — Mike Dunleavy.

For weeks, Walker has tried to muscle Begich out of the race, and as late as yesterday the two had met to discuss if there was a way for one of them to drop.

“This just goes to show you Walker still can’t make a deal come together,” said one supporter attending the rally at the Begich headquarters. “Maybe he can unilaterally keep Mark’s name off the ballot.”

But Walker took the announcement in stride, and within minutes had released this prepared statement on Facebook:

“Regardless of how many candidates are in the race, this election will come down to the decisions made on the Permanent Fund and the Fiscal Plan. Those decisions have been tough, but they have restored our credit rating, ended our unilateral dependence on oil, and protected the Permanent Fund for the future. A three-way race is a race to forty percent. Our challenge in the next two months is to make sure that at least forty percent of the electorate recognize that those decisions have put Alaska in control of our own future. Byron and I are ready to meet that challenge!”

The campaign for Mike Dunleavy issued a statement of its own:

“After months of closed door meetings with power brokers and special interests, the two candidates for big government – Bill Walker and Mark Begich – failed to pull off another scheme to disenfranchise Alaskan voters. Now the choice could not be more clear: Alaskans can vote either for the failed experiment of Walker/Mallott, career politician Mark Begich, or the bold new leadership of Mike Dunleavy, who has pledged to restore the PFD, take real steps to fight crime, and grow the economy. The Mike Dunleavy campaign is focused on addressing issues that matter most to Alaskans: record unemployment, out-of-control crime, a weak economy, and unsustainable government spending. Mike Dunleavy’s optimistic vision for Alaska has been, and will continue to be, the cornerstone of the campaign to send Mike to the governor’s office.”

Dunleavy today appeared on public broadcasting’s “Talk of Alaska” show and then was heading to Juneau to attend a town hall meeting focused on crime, to be held at the Mendenhall Public Library Wednesday at 5 pm, and a Juneau Chamber of Commerce forum on Thursday, where all three candidates are likely to appear.

Document drop: GOP Chairman candid report on District 15 race

Shame on the New York Times

NPR looking for GOP women to remark on Stormy Daniels

Where people know Mike, they like Mike Dunleavy

Recount Friday in Kenai House race

Felons voting? It might be more common than we know

Former Alaska AG now at Interior Department

Landslide club: Top Republican vote getters in contested races

Begich: ‘It’s a three-way race, so get used to it’

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