Leave it to the venerable Associated Press to arrive late to one of the most disturbing trends of these times – the deconstruction and reshaping of the business of news – and then to somehow get the history wrong and some of the context as well.
“To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, if unsatisfactory conclusion….It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.”
One couldn’t get much deeper into the blend of journalism and commentary than to suggest how the country should end a war.
The Republican primary produced a few surprises in some Republican stronghold districts that are typically decided by the primaries:
Rep. George Rauscher of District 9 swept his three-way race with more than 50 percent of the vote. Musk Ox Republican Jim Colver got only 28 percent, and Pam Goode 22 percent. This was a race that many Republican political analysts thought could be closer, due to the massive influx of union political money into the Colver campaign.
Rep. DeLena Johnson held on to her House District 11 seat in decisive fashion, fending off a challenge from Edna DeVries, 59-41.
Former Rep. Nancy Dahlstrom, House District 13, won a three-way primary with 41.38 percent of the vote. This is the seat being vacated by Rep. Dan Saddler, who did not advance in the primary for Senate Seat G.
Kelly Merrick won House District 14 in a three-way race that put Jamie Allard in second and Eugene Harnett in third. That seat is the one being vacated by Rep. Lora Reinbold, who won the nomination for Senate Seat G, Eagle River, 58-42 over Rep. Dan Saddler.
Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, a Musk Ox Republican, lost on election night in District 15, although she is down by only three votes. She could reverse that loss once the absentees and questioned ballots are counted, but considering her opponent, Aaron Weaver, did nothing at all on his campaign, this is a devastating outcome for the head of what are considered the turncoat Republicans. A recount is almost certain.
Sara Rasmussen scored a solid win over former Rep. Liz Vazquez in District 22, 54-46. She will face “nonpartisan” Rep. Jason Grenn in the General Election, along with Democrat Dustin Darden.
Connie Dougherty, District 23, won against Forrest McDonald, 53-47. She’ll face Chris Tuck, a well-funded union representative who belongs to the Democrats.
One of the biggest winners of the night on the Republican primary side was Rep. Chuck Kopp, District 24, who won nearly 71 percent of the vote against challenger Steve Duplantis.
Rep. Charisse Millett lost to Josh Revak, who took the District 25 race by 57-43. Millett wrote to Revak this morning: “Congratulations Josh!Let me know how I can help! We have the best District in the State – do good work. God bless you and your family.” While this district still could go to Democrat Pat Higgins, it’s been held by Millett since 2008. She faced a well-funded Revak, whose family friend poured $30,000 into defeating Millett with an independent attack campaign on her record.
Laddie Shaw upset the three-way race in House District 26, with a whacking 43 percent of the vote, while Joe Riggs and Al Fogle split the remainder. While Riggs and Fogle were the subject of sign-war drama, Shaw worked the doors as a retired Navy SEAL.
Wayne Ogle and Benjamin Carpenter in House District 29 are just three votes apart after all precincts were counted. They are vying for the seat being vacated by Rep. Mike Chenault.
Sen. Peter Micciche of District O trails this morning by 12 votes, with challenger Ron Gillham surprising the senator who has served since 2013. That outcome could still go either way after all the absentee and questioned ballots are counted. A recount is almost certain.
UNPRECEDENTED MARGIN FOR CONTESTED PRIMARY IN ALASKA
Primary voters who chose the Republican ballot gave Mike Dunleavy more than 39,193 votes on Tuesday, with more than 98 percent of the votes counted.
He becomes the nominee with a wide margin over his nearest competitor, Mead Treadwell, who received 20,230 votes.
It was a stunning 62-32 victory for the former Wasilla senator.
Beyond the raw numbers, the Dunleavy victory was an unprecedented margin in a contested gubernatorial primary in Alaska, said Tuckerman Babcock, chairman of the Alaska Republican Party.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.
On the Democrats’ ballot, Mark Begich was the only contender, and he eased through the night with 29,886 votes.
How that sets Dunleavy, Begich, and Gov. Bill Walker up in a three-way primary will be the discussion of the week in political circles in Alaska.
Gov. Bill Walker can claim he has at least 5,000 votes coming out of the primary — those 5,000 are represented by signatures he submitted on a petition on Monday that will allow him to go to the General Election as a lone wolf, without a party organization of volunteers behind him. He will have to instead rely on his family and paid staff to advance his campaign.
Begich, on the other hand, now will get the support of the national Democratic Party, including the coveted funds that come from the Democratic Governors Association, which could be in the millions.
Of the 103,175 people who voted in the primary, Republican candidates received 64,754 votes, and Democrats got 38,421 votes. The main primary on the Democrats’ ballot was in the congressional race, where Alyse Galvin won with 55 percent of the vote to Demitri Shien’s 23 percent.
The best way to become governor of Alaska is to win the Republican primary, and to do so with commanding fashion puts Dunleavy in a strong position to succeed in November, whether there is a three-way race or a two-way.
Dunleavy hits the campaign trail to Soldotna today, while speculation swirls about whether Walker or Begich can muscle each other out of the race. They have until Sept. 4 to do so. Widespread pressure on Begich to drop out will only intensify in the days ahead. But so far, he has exhibited no signs of buckling.
The scene at the Aviator Hotel was upbeat, where hundreds of Republicans gathered to watch the results come in. Early in the night, when only 17 percent of the votes had been counted, Dunleavy leapt to a 30 point lead and stayed above that range the rest of the night. The ultimate outcome was never in question.
Kevin Meyer won the night for the lieutenant governor’s race, and now he and Dunleavy will form a ticket. Meyer took 36 percent of the vote to Edie Grunwald’s 27 percent.
Participants — many who had worked on various legislative campaigns — were in the mood to celebrate the victories and marvel at the upsets. At midnight, Treadwell walked through the mostly empty ballroom and spoke to those who remained, as the staff was clearing the tables.
“The whole race was about Alaskans saying ‘listen to us,’ said Dunleavy campaign manager Brett Huber. “The issues that carried were burning public issues of the Permanent Fund, reducing the cost of government, and Alaskans just want a governor who won’t break their trust.”
“Alaskans spoke loud and clear tonight,” Dunleavy said. “They want a government where leaders honor their promises. Restoring the trust of the people in their elected officials is crucial to our ability to turn this state around. Tonight’s victory belongs to the thousands of ordinary, working Alaskans who want leaders who say what they mean, and mean what they say.”
RESEARCHER NAILS THE OUTCOME
Dittman Research issued a prediction on Tuesday morning, which was embargoed until 8 pm when polls closed. The prediction was within one point of the ultimate outcome. Dittman predicted a 29 point margin of victory, which is nearly exactly where it ended last night:
BACK ON THE TRAIL
Fresh off his historic, landslide primary victory, Dunleavy hits the trail today for the Kenai Peninsula. He will be at Industry Appreciation Day on Saturday on the green strip in Kenai, from noon-3:30 pm.
I’m going to visualize Mike Dunleavy being Governor.
Dunleavy has no Executive Branch experience. I don’t know who around him has any, but there can’t be many.
In Frank Murkowski’s administration, we used up pretty much every nominal Republican who was at least marginally competent to accept a political appointment. We caught hell for firing so many selfless Democrat public servants, but we actually only replaced about 30 percent of the appointees.
If Knowles had won in 2006, he would have found most of his second term administration sitting there waiting for the return of the king.
Sarah Palin came in, and all the Murkowski appointees who hadn’t chosen to leave rather than work for her — I among them — got fired.
She replaced a few of them with some of her buddies but mostly Palin tried to run her government with a bunch of Knowles holdovers; what could go wrong?
Sean Parnell was so desperately afraid of the Sarah Palin tweet-in-the-night that he pretty much left her government, which was Knowles’ government, in place. Then he wondered why he was leaked, thwarted, sabotaged, and ultimately defeated by the Anchorage Daily News and its gaslighting National Guard phony scandal.
When Dunleavy wins, he’ll be awash in resumes from bright young lads and lasses who’ve always been dedicated Republicans and supported him to the hilt, or so they’ll say.
The first step is to see if they gave you any money. I’ve been around enough wannabe Republican appointees to know that the vast majority only want the appointment so they can parlay it into a lobbying contract and they couldn’t care less if the Governor that appointed them gets re-elected so long as they can get a lobbying contract.
The irony here is that the people who are most likely to be loyal to a Dunleavy administration are the merit system employees in State government, most of whom probably voted for one of the Democrats.
The government of Alaska was built by New Deal Era Democrats to be run by New Deal Era Democrats and employ the maximum number of Democrats. There is absolutely no way a Republican governor can fill all the politically appointed positions in State government with loyal and competent Republicans, and you can’t appoint the guy that did yeoman duty putting out signs for you as the head of a major division in State government.
But here is the rub for a Republican; you can’t run the government with holdovers. If you are to have a prayer of effectively running the government, you absolutely must fire everyone that you have a legal right to fire as your hand comes off The Bible.
The Hermaphrodite Administration (Bill Walker) fired everyone left from Palin/Parnell who’d ever had a Republican thought.
Consequently, almost everyone in the government in a position of any authority was hired or promoted by Knowles or by someone who was hired or promoted by a person hired or promoted either in Knowles or Walker. There are a very few relatively apolitical subject matter experts that it would be a shame to lose, but fire them anyway, let them miss a paycheck or two, and hire them back once they realize who is boss. The rest of them can lose their waterfront houses, boats, airplanes, vacation homes, and bedwarmers.
It is going to be lonely in State government when they’re all gone and you really don’t have much of a talent pool to draw on; there are really not a lot of competent, loyal Republicans who want to be a public employee, even a high-level one, when they grow up.
Find some good people to run the major areas where you must make changes.
In the rest of the government, go to the merit system employees who were direct reports to the appointees who are now unemployed. The vast majority of them will keep things running and not give you any trouble. It is far more trouble to fix something than to keep it running, so they’ll keep it running. You give them acting status and the pay of their former boss and most of them will behave and work productively. There’ll be a few ideologues and malcontents who’ll do something stupid, and you’ll just have to fire them. Yes, you can fire public employees, even unionized public employees.
Now the lobbyists and players who’ll flock to you once you’re elected will tell you that you can’t do this; that it will be too disruptive.
The reality is that the very hardest thing you could do would be to stop the government from running. The only major thing that will be disrupted are the contacts lists belonging to those lobbyists and players.
Art Chance is a retired Director of Labor Relations for the State of Alaska, formerly of Juneau and now living in Anchorage. He is the author of the book, “Red on Blue, Establishing a Republican Governance,” available at Amazon. He only writes for Must Read Alaska when he’s banned from posting on Facebook. Chance coined the phrase “hermaphrodite Administration” to describe a governor who is simultaneously a Republican and a Democrat. This was a grave insult to hermaphrodites, but he has not apologized.
Must Read Alaska is “live blogging” today — all day until about 11 pm. That means updates will be at the top of this story with a time stamp.
Send your Election Day experience stories — good or bad — to [email protected] and I will keep your name private if I use a story that is critical of the process. Join Must Read Alaska at the Aviator Hotel starting at 6 pm for our Election Central livestream with Amy Demboski, and follow my updates here:
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Mike Dunleavy interviewed by Liz Raines of KTVA, with the photographer straining to get both of them in the picture.
8:55: In Ketchikan Precinct 3, Mead Treadwell and Mike Dunleavy are about even: 62 for Treadwell, 63 for Dunleavy.
In the lieutenant governor’s race, Ketchikan Precinct 3 gave it to Kevin Meyer with 54 votes.
8:45 pm: This is a precinct tape of interest to Ketchikan:
8 pm: The polls are now closed. I can reveal the Dittman Research prediction that he sent to me this afternoon:
7:50 pm: About 50 people now down here at the Aviator Hotel, as we wait for the polls to close and the results, which we expect to roll in at about 8:40 p.m.
6 pm: The rain finally found Juneau and the Dunleavy crew was ready this evening for the rush hour traffic at the corner of the Douglas Bridge and Egan Drive. Here they are packing up and heading home to dry off and watch the results come in.
POWER OUTAGE UPDATE
5:55 pm: Chugach Electric crews plan to reconnect approximately 1,100 consumers affected by the outage within the next couple hours. The remaining 350 to 400 consumers will be out for another 4 to 8 hours while replacing the pole. Crews are hoping to have the pole fixed and everyone restored by midnight.
5:36 pm: I went by the Dunleavy for Governor office on Northern Lights Blvd, and found Mike Dunleavy making phone calls along with the late-afternoon crew. They made 2,000 phone calls in the past 24 hours and did 11,000 peer-to-peer text messages to remind people to vote. Here is what the scene looked like:
POWER OUT IN SOUTH ANCHORAGE
5 pm: A slice of District 26 and most of 28 are impacted by a major outage affected 1,400 homes in that area. Chugach Electric is are replacing a snapped pole and it will be more than 12 hours before power is restored. Restaurants in South Anchorage will be jammed, so why not head down to the Aviator Hotel in downtown Anchorage and join us at Election Central.
District 28 is historically the highest turnout district in the state. The outage impacts the Huffman, DeArmoun, and O’Malley areas.
District 26 race that will be impacted somewhat is the race between Al Fogle,Joe Riggs and Laddie Shaw.
District 28 is the race between Republicans Jennifer Johnston and Ross Bieling.
The voting machines at the precincts impacted may have to be counted at Gambell Street and delay results in those areas.
Also, you can still vote at 2525 Gambell Street or at City Hall until 8 pm.
4:58: Dittman Research has given Must Read Alaska its predictions on the governor’s race but it’s embargoed until the polls close at 8 pm.
2:49 pm: An Election Night Party sponsored by Mead Treadwell starts at 7 pm at Bootleggers 8 Star Saloon, 612 F Street in Anchorage. Watch the results come in with Treadwell supporters, (next to Flat Top Pizza).
2:28 pm: A voter in District 22, Kincaid Elementary School polling place, said she asked for a Republican ballot and the poll worker tried to sell her on the virtues of voting the Democrat ballot. That is the heaviest Republican precinct in District 22.
Colony Middle School
2:25 pm: A voter at Colony Middle School was not happy that the election worker had such a hard time seeing.
“The only lady checking names off on the printout can’t see or read adequately. She highlighted [name redacted] for me to sign; my name id [different name redacted]. She set her pen down on the edge of her table. I caught it before it fell. She couldn’t see it when I returned it to her. I held it right in front of her, about four inches off the table. I asked the kid next to her to get a magnifying glass; she responded that she could see fine and that we were just confusing her by going too quickly. Help!!!”
2:05 pm:Sen. Mike Shower, who was appointed to serve the remaining term of former Sen. Mike Dunleavy in District E, spent the morning in the heavy downpour waving at drivers at the bridge of Trunk Road and the Parks Highway.
“Watching those 50,000 commuters go by was amazing, and there were a lot of honks and about every fifth car had someone waving back. Only about five one-finger salutes,” he said. No sign of Randall Kowalke, who is running against Shower for the Senate seat.
Tonight, Sen. Shower and his wife Michelle Shower are having a thank-you party in their hangar for the volunteers on his campaign. “I just think it’s more appropriate to stay in my district and thank people here,” he said, explaining why he will not be heading to Anchorage for the Election Central event at the Aviator Hotel.
1:35 pm: In Sutton, the rain was pouring down all morning, but Rep. George Rauscher was sign waving there before heading to Farm Loop to wave at drivers and remind them to vote for him. Also spotted in the Farm Loop area was his main rival, former Rep. Jim Colver, who was standing with some of his union “volunteers” to wave at District 9 voters.
Campaign volunteers wave at passersby in Sutton, and feature a sign saying, “Take a Walk Walker” on Primary Election Day.
1:12 pm: The rain pours down in Southcentral through Fairbanks still, but Juneau had a beautiful day for voting. The sign-wavers at the Egan Expressway turnout started at daybreak, with about 12 people with coffee cups in one hand and signs in the other waving for Mike Dunleavy for governor. Joining them at the scenic turnout were two people waving signs for Rob Edwardson for House District 34 — one of those sign wavers was Rep. Justin Parish, who Edwardson works for as an aide. Edwardson is Parish’s choice to replace him. A couple of people sign-waved for Edwardson’s primary opponent, Andi Story. Edwardson vs. Story are one of the few contested Democratic primaries today.
This afternoon the sign-waving will continue for the home-bound traffic.
12:34 pm: Update from Ketchikan, it’s a gorgeous 75-degree day, with a cloudless sky, yet voter turnout seems low in Alaska’s First City, according to our source. It was the slowest poll workers had seen in years by 9:30 am, but it’s starting to pick up during the noon hour. There will be a sign-waving crew for Dunleavy for governor during the afternoon going-home drive.
“Alaskans voting in the state’s primary election Tuesday are poised to set up a rare three-way race for governor amid unhappiness with independent incumbent Bill Walker, a struggling economy and a rising crime rate.
“Former state senator Mike Dunleavy is heavily favored to win a seven-person race for the Republican nomination when polls close at 8 p.m. local time. He had 46% support, compared with 19% for his closest competitor, in a recent poll.
“Former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich is running unopposed on the Democratic side.
“In a three-way race, Mr. Dunleavy has the support of between 32% and 36% of likely Alaska voters, while Mr. Walker gets 28% and Mr. Begich gets between 22% and 28%, according to a pair of recent polls, one commissioned by Mr. Walker’s campaign and one by a labor union.”
11:45 am: “I am now predicting that we have a 24 percent voter turnout today.” – Suzanne Downing,Must Read Alaska.
As of last night, the Division of Elections had sent out 9,836 mail ballots, and received 4,698 back. 6,906 had early voted before the close last night at the early voting locations. This appears to be about normal compared to earlier years.
11:32 am:Stanley Wright, running for District 16 unopposed in the Republican primary, was still not taking any votes for granted and campaigned in the pouring rain. “God bless America”:
11:24 am: A reader is still steamed about the Anchorage municipality’s mail-in election and sent this picture to express her displeasure with the local elections held in April:
11:02 am:Bernie Moffitt, a veteran voting in Meadow Lakes in Wasilla says that he was given the Democrat ballot after being told that he was a member of the Veterans political group, which prohibited him from voting in the Republican Primary. He says that he thinks he checked a box on his voter registration card that indicated he is a veteran, and that it put him into the “Veterans Party.” He wanted to vote the Republican ballot and was eventually allowed to vote it but had to change his party affiliation to Undeclared. “We thought putting veteran on our voter registration was just because we’re veterans, the majority of us are Republicans. It’s incredible.”
10:25 am:Marcus Sanders has finished voting in District 17. He ran into one of his elementary school teachers there at Lake Otis Elementary School and she said she was voting for him: “Very emotional moment for me this morning at the polls. I ran into one of my elementary school teachers who told me she was voting for me. She said she remembered the challenges I had growing up – she saw them first hand. Hands down one of the most profound moments I’ve had on the campaign trail. To have the support of those who made me into the man I am today is such a high honor.”
10:10 am: Report has come in from Bartlett High School in Anchorage that voting starting off rough. “The Bartlett High School Polling Place is an EPIC fail this morning. The doors were not opened until 7:20 AM. When they did open, they had no idea what to do. They couldn’t find the Republican ballots. When they did finally find them, the electronic box that takes your ballot is rejecting all of the voters ballots with the machine stating “INVALID BALLOT” Then the polling people took my ballot and started showing it to everyone in the office. Same thing with the next guy in line behind me. WTF.”
Mead Treadwell and crew waves to drivers during rush hour traffic in Anchorage.
9:31 am: For sign-wavers in Fairbanks, it was a quiet morning. Sign-wavers for Mike Dunleavy were at the Airport/University intersection. No other candidates showed up. A handful of Kathryn Dodge/Alyse Galvin supporters were spotted at Airport and Lathrop. No other sign-wavers showed up at any other corner on the south side of Fairbanks. Missing were all the usual union workers, which usually show up by the dozens to wave signs. Begich supporters were not seen, but he doesn’t have an opponent on the Democrats’ ballot.
MEANWHILE, PRO-LIFE ALASKA ISSUES ITS ENDORSEMENTS — INCLUDING RAUSCHER
Former Lt. Gov. Loren Leman on Monday wrote a letter to Pat Martin, head of Alaska Right to Life, admonishing him for Martin’s scorched earth tactics against pro-life candidates.
Leman, a well-known pro-life advocate who has championed the rights of the unborn his whole life, wrote specifically in defense of Rep. George Rauscher, who is running for his seat in District 9, which stretches from the Mat-Su Valley to Valdez and Whittier.
Rauscher lost the blessing of Martin and Alaska Right to Life, which has said he isn’t pro-life enough.
Working with Rep. David Eastman to oust Rauscher and install Pam Goode in the District 9 seat, Martin sent out mailers revoking its endorsement of Rauscher, as well as killing the endorsements he had earlier given to Rep. Cathy Tilton and Rep. DeLena Johnson, both Valley Republicans.
George Rauscher
The Alaska Right to Life group had already revoked its endorsement of Sen. Cathy Giessel, another staunch pro-life advocate. None of these legislators have done enough, Martin said.
Only David Eastman retained the endorsement of Martin’s group.
However, the Alaska Right to Life organization is no longer affiliated with the National Right to Life organization.
The new affiliate for National Right to Life, called Pro-Life Alaska, has given Rauscher and other advocates for the unborn its endorsement; the entire list is at the bottom of this story.
I am very disappointed in your message. George Rauscher is our friend in the pro-life battle. When we attack our friends, we defeat ourselves. Your baseless attack reminds me of similar criticism directed at me when I was first elected to the House nearly 30 years ago. Even though I was one of 14 members in the minority in the House, the Alaska Right to Life leader said I wasn’t doing enough. He later apologized to me–and I believe the record is clear that I was one of the most effective pro-life legislators in Alaska during the past three decades. No, we haven’t yet won the battle, but it hasn’t been for lack of trying.
If you are trying to demonstrate that you can defeat a strongly pro-life legislator who doesn’t do things exactly your way, you just might. But think hard about who the district will have as a replacement. Your strategy is flawed.
Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, under the guidance of campaign manager John-Henry Heckendorn, delivered to the Division of Elections some 5,000 signatures apiece this afternoon.
The campaigns had paid signature gatherers acquire them so the two can appear on the November ballot.
The two will not be taking part as candidates in Tuesday’s primary, although each of them could, in fact, vote. Just not for themselves.
They both live in District 33, downtown Juneau, but Walker is registered at his Anchorage home in District 21, where Republican Marilyn Stewart is unopposed in the primary, and Democrat Rep. Matt Claman, the incumbent lawmaker, is also unopposed. There’s not a lot of motivation for him to vote.
There are no Republican candidates running in District 33, but Mallott could vote for Democrats Tom Morphet, Sara Hannan or James Hart for House, for the seat being relinquished by Rep. Sam Kito.
Walker is an undeclared voter, which means he can vote either ballot, and Mallott is a Democrat.
The two needed just 3,200 signatures each from registered voters, and they had to get them into the Division of Elections no later than Tuesday, Election Day. Arriving a day early gave the two plenty of time to spare. It’s also the governor and first lady’s wedding anniversary today.
A paid signature gatherer for Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott stands outside the REI store to gather signatures so the two can appear on the ballot in November.
Heckendorn directed the two to walk into the Division of Elections on Gambell Street in Anchorage not once, but twice, so that more photos could be taken of the historic occasion.
The two had three helpers with them delivering boxes, 11 total, but the boxes may have been lightly loaded for the staging value. Both of the aging men easily carried three of them apiece through the doors of the Elections office, while the others trailed within camera range.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan paused while helping to raise a totem pole last week, and took a selfie photo. The photograph of him taking the selfie is priceless and was provided by Johnny Rice, who attended.
The pole, being raised in Klawock on Aug. 18, is known as the “Veterans Totem Pole,” and was carved by U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Native carver Jonathan Rowan. It’s now in place by the boat ramp.
Aaron Isaacs Jr. helped foster the project, which honors the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and those missing in action. The pole, which may be the first to honor veterans, was 30 years in the making, with Isaacs raising over $60,000 from multiple private donors, pancake feeds, as well as the Department of Defense.
Veterans with ties to Southeast were invited to attend and began arriving in Klawock last week to take part in the ceremonies around the raising of the pole.
(Courtesy Sen. Lisa Murkowski)
The pole depicts, among other things, a Vietnam War-era U.S. Army soldier with a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes poking out of his helmet. It also has a representation of the U.S. flag given to families at a the funeral of a veteran.
To see the pole being pulled into an upright position, watch the video here:
Jon Katchen, a well-regarded lawyer familiar with Alaska land, access, and oil and gas issues, has withdrawn his name from consideration for the U.S. District Court for Alaska. He was nominated by President Trump for a judgeship on April 12.
Katchen was a law clerk for President Donald Trump’s sister, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, who is now retired from the Third Circuit. Katchen is not saying why he withdrew his name, but the political process for confirmation is a known deterrent for nominees.
In private practice in Anchorage at the office of Holland & Hart, Katchen has represented clients before the U.S. Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, federal District Court of Alaska, the Alaska Supreme Court, the Alaska Superior Court, the Office of Administrative Hearings, and the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
For the State of Alaska, he served as senior counsel to Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan; and special assistant to then-Attorney General Sullivan.
He earned his J.D. at the prestigious University of California Hastings College of Law, and has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Boston College. He was key to the resolution of the Point Thomson decision, one that Gov. Bill Walker fought when he was not yet governor.
