Rep. Mary Peltola has broken state law before and is doing it again, since the State of Alaska didn’t penalize her the first time.
Earlier this year, she held a campaign event at North Pole High School, in violation of state law. No party or legal entity challenged her, although Must Read Alaska pointed out the clear violation of state statute.
Next week, she’ll be a repeat offender. as she and Alaska Senate candidate Savannah Fletcher host a partisan political event at Fort Yukon School on Oct. 12.
In Alaska, school districts are prohibited from using public resources, including school facilities, for political events or activities that promote a particular candidate, party, or ballot measure. Sate law restricts the use of public resources for political purposes.
School districts may host nonpartisan events, but this is a meet-and-greet that is sponsored by specific active candidates for office and who are in the act of campaigning.
Nick Begich was the keynote speaker at the annual Alaska Outdoor Council’s banquet, held this year at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage on Saturday night.
The Alaska Outdoor Council has endorsed Begich for Congress. The council has numerous clubs and member organizations dedicated to outdoor recreation, hunting, and conservation.
Also spotted at the Alaska Outdoor Council banquet was Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, Alaska House Speaker Cathy Tilton, Rep. Kevin McCabe, Rep. Mike Cronk, and Rep. Stanley Wright.
Alaska House Speaker Cathy Tilton, center, along with Rep. Kevin McCabe, Rep. Mike Cronk, and Rep. Stanley Wright.
Begich told the hundreds in attendance that he had spoken with former President Donald Trump, who told him to tell Alaskans that, “On day one, I am going to get to work repealing those 66 executive orders” that President Joe Biden has made that targeted Alaskans and their rights during his one term in office.
Earlier this week, Begich announced the endorsement of that National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the leading national advocacy organization for small businesses.
Begich is the Republican candidate running to replace Democrat Mary Peltola.
Anchorage faces potential crisis with the local police force. Lack of police, not mentioned in Mayor Suzanne LaFrance’s budget for 2025, is reaching a critical level with resignations increasing.
On top of that, the Anchorage Assembly and mayor control the public narrative over officer-involved shootings and their radical supporters in the community are demanding third-party control of Anchorage police.
Party for Socialism and Liberation Facebook page.
Each of the police-involved shootings has involved dangerous suspects with weapons, some of whom have shot or shot at officers. All officers have been exonerated by the state Office of Special Prosecutions.
Mayor LaFrance and Assembly have reacted to these assaults against officers by calling for independent reviews, civilian oversight, and the mayor specifically blamed officers — even before an investigation was started.
Then there’s the Anchorage Police Department Employees Association, through its Political Action Committee, which endorsed or supported these anti-law-enforcement Assembly members and the mayor.
How are the rank and file police officers reacting to their own union’s slow and timid support in most cases? Sources say they are discouraged.
The union finally sent a strong message to the mayor, but only after pressure from members. An unprecedented number of officers attended a membership meeting in September, where Mayor LaFrance was invited to try and explain why she threw them under the bus after the Easter Leafa shooting on Aug. 13. LaFrance had immediately called a press conference to say the shooting should not have happened.
After meeting with the police force members, she promised a public apology. She did not make that apology in the same setting that she cast the blame — in a press conference setting. Instead, she gave a half-hearted “apology” at an Assembly Public Health and Safety Committee meeting, which was hastily called and witnessed by few. Her “apology” was a winding paragraph of explaining that everyone deserves fair treatment. She never actually said, “I’m sorry that I did not back our men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our community.”
The union is also contributing to the staffing and morale problems at the Anchorage Police Department.
APD officers, by both internal police policy and Municipal Code of Ethics, are not allowed to take public political positions under the color of authority. It’s not only wrong, it’s illegal.
But the police union is doing so — endorsing candidates that the police force itself isn’t supportive of. In a recent political flyer supporting Eagle River Sen. Kelly Merrick, a personal endorsement was made by the union’s vice president wearing full APD uniform — a glaringly illegal act.
The photo of Police Officer Matt Fraize is the actual property of the Anchorage Police Department and officers may not use their badges in support of candidates.
Anchorage Municipal Code 1.15.025(I)(4) provides: A municipal employee shall not: a. Use position over another municipal employee to solicit a campaign contribution, endorsement, or other support for a political candidate. b. While on duty, engage in political campaigning for elected public office, political endorsement, or election campaign fundraising for any person or office. c. When engaging in political activity outside scheduled work hours, act in a manner to suggest that the employee is acting in the employee’s official capacity, or has official municipal endorsement, or is otherwise representing the municipality. d. Use official position to discourage or inhibit any person from exercising voter franchise. e. Use or depict municipal property and facilities in a manner unavailable to the public. This restriction applies to use or depiction of a uniform in political endorsement if the uniform identifies the person as a municipal employee, regardless of ownership of the uniform.
The Anchorage police officers know the union is doing something illegal, but now they can’t even object to the illegality, because they are already wedged between a mayor and Assembly that has made them a target and a union that barely stands up for them while they face danger every day.
The attacks against police officers continue by leftists on the Assembly’s Health and Safety Committee. A meeting this past week included a report to the committee for a major change to the Internal Affairs discipline process that was explained as a “modification of the current procedure.”
This is the meme that is being circulated around the Anchorage police officer workforce, showing the skepticism the force is experiencing right now with leadership and union bosses.
What is that modification? A third party picked by anti-police politicians will investigate and make the final reports as to whether there was a violation of policies, procedures, or training and ultimately will decide what discipline Officer Alexander Roman receives; Roman is the officer who shot Easter Leafa, who was coming at him with a knife on Aug. 13.
Although Roman’s actions have been cleared by the State Office of Special Prosecutions, Mayor LaFrance wants a “third party” of her choosing. Is it unclear how the union, which is completely in the tank for LaFrance, will react to this “outside” review of one of its officers, which may even violate the union’s collective bargaining agreement.
The ultimate goal seems to be to curb the use force officers can employ when dealing with suspects who are attacking them.
So far, the union has been silent how it will react to this extra-judicial, politicized investigation. The union has also been silent on the lack of prosecutors in the city and the fact that 50% of arrested criminals are being released without trial, due to Rule 45, which requires a trial before 120 days.
Police say that only operating under the influence (OUI) and domestic violence cases are being prosecuted at this point, and thousands of arrests every year are being dismissed by the courts due to lack of timely trials. Read more here:
But the union has been busy hanging flyers on the doors of Eagle River and Chugiak in support of its chosen candidate, Kelly Merrick, who is in poor standing in the community due to her allegiance to Democrats like the ones leading the attacks on police officers.
The flyer makes the outlandish claim that Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group that backs Jared Goecker for Senate, is a “defund the police” group, raising the question: Who will take the police union to task for illegal campaigning?
Anchorage police union flyer tells lies about Americans for Prosperity in its recent flyer.
I hate these whack-a-mole moments. Just when you think it’s over, it pops up again. Same script, slightly different language, seeking same result: the ability of the United Nations, World Health Organization, and World Economic Forum to dictate what you can or cannot do. The move toward a world power view rather than individual government sovereignty.
In January, the globalists had their annual World Economic Forum meeting with many heads of state in attendance. The WEF and the WHO met to discuss worldwide pandemics and how to manage them.
The WHO organization is a bit wonky. Every employee gets diplomatic immunity and has no accountability for any actions he or she might take.
The plan that was supposed to be ratified on May 24, 2024 would have given the WHO unlimited powers to declare pandemics. It would have also given the WHO the power to tell nations what they needed to do, including mandatory lock downs, face masks, and the possible shut down of supply chains.
In essence, your sovereignty wouldn’t matter. It would be for the greater good. Thus, an unelected official of a foreign country would control your nation during the next pandemic.
I was excited when the WHO resolutions did not pass. Yet, I was smart enough to know that the unelected bureaucrats would figure out an end around in an attempt to obtain their goal.
When the initial “treaty” didn’t pass, the UN unveiled a new version called, “Pact for the Future.”
This latest version was passed by “consensus” at the last UN meeting on Sept. 22. However, no vote was recorded—only a vote on a Russian amendment that was dramatically defeated by 7 to 153. This amendment would have drastically decreased the powers of the UN.
The good news is that 22 nations said they were not particularly happy with the pact. But the pact still passed with a unanimous vote.
Why should you care? Even though the initial attempt was defeated, they have gone about it again. Yes, it is more watered down, but it is also not very specific. They will be working on those specifics now.
When the United Nations General Assembly adopted this “Pact for the Future” on Sept 22, 2024, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated this “landmark agreement is a step-change towards more effective, inclusive, networked multilateralism.”
Just what is multilateralism? It requires all states in the Pact to follow what are deemed by consensus to be the international norms and to show more respect to “international institutions”. The rules must be applied equally to all nations with “no exceptions for powerful states”.
I did receive some good news from Dr. Meryl Nass who will be discussing this topic at our upcoming event on Oct. 26. She sent me this email on September 29, 2024:
“When I was here (Alaska) three years ago, I met with both the AG and the governor, and neither of them seemed very responsive. However, subsequently each has signed on to letters signed by 26 Republican governors and 22 Republican attorneys general that say they will not comply with orders from the WHO.”
I was glad to see Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Attorney General Treg Taylor signed up to not complying with orders from the WHO. Some folks do see our sovereignty is more important than the global elites who want to rule the world.
Do you want to follow the rules such as, mask mandates, mandatory lockdowns, and shutting down a nation’s economy when you have no say?
Dr. Nass is returning to Alaska to speak on the WHO and its attempts to overrule America’s sovereignty during the next pandemic.
Come hear Dr. Nass at our event on Oct. 26 at the Egan Convention Center in Anchorage. Go to: www.alaskacovidalliance.comto buy tickets.
If you cannot make it to our live in-person event, you can Zoom.
Invest just a very small part of your PFD to hear 10 experts!
Linda Boyle, RN, MSN, DM, was formerly the chief nurse for the 3rd Medical Group, JBER, and was the interim director of the Alaska VA. Most recently, she served as Director for Central Alabama VA Healthcare System. She is the director of the Alaska Covid Alliance.
After an engine room fire sidelined the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy, repairs are complete and the ship is heading north from Seattle to maintain a presence in the Arctic Ocean, where it is expected to arrive around Oct. 25, not returning to its homeport of Seattle until about Dec 15.
The crew will support scientists conducting three science missions during Healy’s fall 2024 Arctic deployment. Other science of opportunity across a broad spectrum of disciplines will also be supported as time and weather allow, the Coast Guard said.
The first mission supports the Arctic Port Access Route Study. During this mission, the cutter will perform bathymetric mapping in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas.
The Coast Guard has initiated an Arctic port access route study to analyze current vessel patterns, predict future vessel needs, and balance the needs of all waterway users by developing and recommending vessel routing measures for the Arctic, the Coast Guard said. The Arctic PARS may lead to future rulemaking or international agreements that consider coastal communities, fishing, commercial traffic, military needs, resource development, wildlife presence and habit, tribal activities, and recreational uses.
For the second mission, Healy will embark 20 early career polar scientists and their mentors on an Arctic Chief Scientists Training Cruise sponsored by the National Science Foundation and University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System. These early career scientists will conduct multidisciplinary research, including mapping to fill critical bathymetric gaps and scientific sampling across various disciplines, in addition to developing skills in shipboard leadership, coordination, and execution.
The final mission of the deployment will support other science of opportunity to include sea floor mapping for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Coast Survey.
“We are thrilled to support numerous diverse research objectives in the northern polar region this fall. In an era of increasing vessel traffic, our work will contribute to navigation safety in a region where existing soundings are sparse,” said Capt. Michele Schallip, Healy’s commanding officer. “We are elated to have been able to reschedule our opportunity to help inspire future principal investigators in the Early Career Scientist mission. Healy’s crew, port engineering staff, and General Electric Verona worked diligently during our inport to ensure the cutter is ready to safely operate in the remote, unforgiving Arctic environment.”
Healy is the United States’ largest polar icebreaker and the Coast Guard’s only icebreaker explicitly designed to support Arctic research. The platform is ideally specialized for scientific missions, providing access to the most remote reaches of the Arctic Ocean. Healy is designed to break 4.5 feet of ice continuously at three knots and can operate in temperatures as low as -50 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Democrats are confused: They won’t or can’t define what a woman is, but they sure want Alaskans to elect more of them.
During the 2022 confirmation hearings for President’ Biden’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Katanji Brown Jackson, she was asked to define the word “woman.”
“I can’t — ” Jackson replied to Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. The Democrats (and Sen. Lisa Murkowski) decided Jackson had the judgment to sit on the nation’s highest court.
But if a judge who will interpret the nation’s laws can’t define what a woman is, neither can the Democratic Party, which supports men using women’s bathrooms and locker rooms, as well as playing on women-designated sports teams and leagues.
Rep. Mary Peltola, who supports men using women’s bathrooms and locker rooms, is now endorsing Savannah Fletcher for Senate, with the Alaska Democratic Party telling voters to “elect more women.”
Savannah Fletcher, the presiding officer of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly, is the social justice attorney trying to keep pornograhic books inside school libraries — books with graphic depictions of gay sex, such as the controversial gay sex book “Gender Queer,” which school librarians have put in front of children.
Fletcher, a Northern Justice Project lawyer who has registered as an independent, is now running to represent portions of Fairbanks and the Interior. She has financial entanglements with the Democratic Party, as she is paying to use their coordinated campaign program, and she has volunteered at their booth at the Tanana State Fair. Fletcher is one of the “fabulous fake” candidates who pretend to be nonaligned in order to trick votes.
The Alaska Democrats want more of Peltola and Fletcher, who will represent the party’s transgender-centric agenda. And the Democrats want fewer heterosexual men in general, according to their most recent posting. The party is actually telling voters to vote by sexual characteristics, not by merit, policy, experience, or character.
The “vote women” is the party’s push to diminish the role of straight men in general, politics and society. A look at the party’s officer listing shows it is being taken over by women and gay men.
But the Alaska Democrats are part of a pattern that is evident the Biden-Harris Administration: U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona refused to define “woman” during a House Appropriations Committee in 2023
Cardona’s testimony can be seen at this link on YouTube. It came as the president changed the definitions used by Title IX law passed by Congress and signed by President Richard Nixon in 1972, ensuring fairness for women and girls in sports at America’s public schools and universities.
Biden included transgenders as women, allowing unfair competition in sports and said no school that prohibited transgenders from competing as women would be eligible for federal funding. The Supreme Court has blocked that ruling for now.
Walter Featherly, running against Republican Rep. Julie Coulombe for House District 11 in Anchorage, says he is not with any political party, but he’s a Democrat, the record shows.
He is one of the fabulous fakes who say they are independent but are deeply entangled with the Alaska Democratic Party.
Featherly’s campaign finance report shows he not only pays the Alaska Democratic Party for its campaign services, he contracts with the leading Anchorage Democrat campaign consultant, Amber Lee Strategies. He gets donations from people like Democrat activist Hal Gazaway ($250), George “Occupy Wall Street” Martinez ($100), and NEA Alaska President Tom Klaameyer ($500).
Unions are bringing in the big bucks for Featherly, along with the House Democratic Campaign Committee ($2,000).
Featherly’s personal political history makes his Democrat loyalties even more clear.
He was not only recalled from the Anchorage School Board for corrupt practices through secret meetings, he fought his recall, saying the petition wasn’t valid. Although Harvard-trained, he lost in court.
Ironically, in 2019, Featherly turned around and signed the petition to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
That particular recall campaign started within a few weeks of Dunleavy being sworn in as governor, and the issue involved Dunleavy’s hope for a better quality in the list of judicial candidates given to him by the Alaska Judicial Council, a group run by the Democrat-led Alaska Bar Association.
Featherly is a member of the Alaska Bar Association.
Featherly in 2014 signed the petition that was trying to restore the progressive oil tax that had resulted up driving many oil companies out of Alaska. The petition was to restore ACES and get rid of the legislation known as Senate Bill 21. ACES had destabilized Alaska’s economy, but Democrats favored ACES because the taxes were so high.
Just last week, Featherly claimed an endorsement from the Associated General Contractors, but was immediately forced to take it down. The group had never endorsed him.
Rep. Julie Coulombe, running for reelection after her first term, is still a political newcomer, having spend just one term in office, but has proven her judgment credentials. The Harvard lawyer Featherly is still carrying baggage from his history of political activism.
Rep. Mary Peltola has made herself out to be the defender of women. But by “women,” she means “men who want to use women’s bathrooms and locker rooms.” And by “girls,” she means allowing schools to transition children into a different gender identity without their parents’ knowledge.
As Alaska’s only member of Congress, Peltola voted against a bill to allow parents to even see the curriculum their children are being taught at public schools.
At the same time, she was accepting tens of thousands of dollars from gender identity warrior groups and asking Alaskans to donate to Identity Inc., Alaska’s leading organization that encourages children to join their transgender tribe and transition their sexual characteristics.
In March of 2023, Peltola voted “No” on the Parents Bill of Rights Act, which would require schools to get permission from parents before helping a child make a gender identity switch at school. The bill also required schools to inform parents of violent activity. The bill passed along party lines, with all Democrats voting against it.
Peltola accepted $20,000 from the leftist National Education Association, and $15,000 from the American Federation of Teachers (AFL-CIO). Both organizations are part of the war on parents and advocate for books like “Gender Queer,” a gay sex manual with graphic illustrations, to be assigned summer reading for children.
Peltola has accepted another $6,000 from the Human Rights Campaign, which has the mission of transitioning children, including surgical mutilation of their genitals.
The Heritage Foundation has documentedseveral cases of men pretending to be transgender in order to gain access to women’s bathrooms. They include:
In 2009, a sex offender named Richard Rendler was arrested for wearing fake breasts and a wig while loitering in a women’s restroom in a Campbell, California, shopping center. Rendler had previously been arrested on charges of child molestation and indecent exposure.
In 2010, Berkeley police arrested Gregorio Hernandez. Hernandez had disguised himself as a woman on two separate occasions to get inside a UC Berkeley locker room. Once in the locker room, Hernandez allegedly used his cell phone to photograph women.
In 2014, Christopher Hambrook—who faked being a transgender person named Jessica—was jailed in Toronto, Canada. Hambrook preyed on women at two Toronto shelters, and had previously preyed on other women and girls as young as 5 years old to as old as 53. Hambrook’s case in particular shows the importance of protecting the privacy and safety of some of our most vulnerable citizens: the homeless and others who seek emergency shelter.
In 2015, two spying instances were recorded in Virginia—one at a mall and one at a Wal-Mart. Both instances involved a man in women’s clothing who used a mirror and camera to take pictures of a mother and her 5-year-old daughter and a 53-year-old woman while they were in neighboring restroom stalls. The suspect wore a pink shirt and a long wig to present himself as a woman.
In 2016, a man used a women’s locker room at a public swimming poolin Washington state to undress in front of young girls who were changing for swim practice. When Seattle Parks and Recreation staff asked him to leave, the man claimed that “the law has changed and I have a right to be here.” The man was apparently referring to a Washington state rule that allows individuals to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. However, the man made no attempt to present as a woman.
Post Register: Transgender woman arrested for voyeurism at Target(July 12, 2016) Ammon, Idaho – A biological male claiming to be a woman was arrested after taking cellphone pictures of a woman in the adjoining stall of a women’s dressing room at a Target store. The man, who was dressed as a woman, ran out of the store after the victim attempted to confront him.
Mass Resistance: Female Office Worker Encounters Man Urinating in Ladies’ Room Exposed (February 21, 2016) Waltham, Mass. – A woman said that when she walked into a women’s restroom at her place of employment she saw a man, through an open stall door, sitting on a toilet urinating, with his private parts exposed. She reported that she immediately turned around and left the restroom, and felt unsafe about returning to that restroom again.
The Daily Caller: Security Guard Arrested for Removing Man from Women’s Bathroom (May 19, 2016) Washington, D.C. – A female security guard who worked at a grocery store was arrested for removing a male from the women’s restroom after he entered dressed as a woman. When the security guard asked the man to leave, he refused saying he identified as a woman. The security guard physically removed the man from the women’s restroom. The man called the police on the security guard upon leaving the store.
CBS DFW: Shopper Upset Man Allowed to use Women’s Dressing Room in Ross (May 17, 2016) Mesquite, Tex. – In May of 2016, a woman was in a Ross Department store dressing room when she heard a man’s voice in the dressing room. She reported this to the manager who informed the woman that, despite the man being dressed as a male and having a 5 o’clock shadow, the man was “representing himself as a woman today.” The Ross manager informed the woman that if she was bothered by this, she would need to wait until he was finished.
NY Daily News: Seattle Man Undresses in Women’s Locker Room at Local Pool to Test New Transgender Bathroom Rule (February 17, 2016) Seattle, Wash. – In February of 2016, a man, dressed as a male, walked into a women’s locker room at a local pool and proceeded to undress. The women in the locker room attempted to kick him out, but the man refused saying, “The law has changed and I have the right to be here.” The man returned to the locker room later that day when young girls were there changing for swim practice.
NBC Washington: Man Dressed as Woman Arrested for Spying into Mall Bathroom Stall, Police Say (November 17, 2015) Fredericksburg, Va. – In May of 2015, Richard Rodriguez, a 30-year-old man dressed in women’s clothing, attempted to film a woman in a bathroom stall. The victim told police she saw a bag “protruding from underneath a neighboring stall.” When she confronted the suspect, the man dressed in women’s clothing exited the stall and entered another stall next to another woman. Rodriquez was charged with three counts of unlawful filming of a nonconsenting person and three counts of peeping.
KTLA5: DA: Cross-Dressing Man Secretly Taped Women at Macy’s (May 14, 2013) Palmdale, Calif. – In May of 2013, Jason Pomare, a 33-year-old male, dressed as a woman multiple times in order to secretly videotape women in women’s restrooms. A woman reported to security officers that there was a man, wearing a wig and dressed as a woman, acting suspiciously in the women’s restroom in Macy’s. Pomare was charged with six counts of unlawful use of a concealed camera for purposes of sexual gratification.
Oregon Live: Cross-Dressing Sex Predator Sentenced for Clackamas Aquatic Park Crimes (October 27, 2011) Oak Grove, Ore. – In July of 2011, Thomas Benson, a 39-year-old male with a prior conviction for sexual abusing children, was arrested and charged with unlawful contact with a child and unlawfully being in a location where children congregate because, dressed as a woman, Benson entered the women’s locker room at the Clackamas Aquatic Park to talk with children. When he left the Park, Benson left in men’s clothing. Benson was followed out of the Park and he fled. Benson was later arrested.
Abc7news.com: Police: Calif. Locker Room Suspect Used Disguise (October 22, 2010) Berkeley, Calif. – In October of 2010, Gregorio Hernandez, a 29-year-old male, was arrested for disguising himself as a woman twice to get inside a UC Berkeley women’s locker room. Once inside, the man used his cell phone to photograph women in the locker room.
WSBTV: Police: Man Undresses in Front of Children in Walmart Restroom (March 24, 2010) Calhoun, Ga. – In March of 2010, Norwood Smith Burnes, a 51-year-old male, was arrested and charged with public indecency, disorderly conduct, and criminal trespass for undressing in front of children in a women’s restroom at a Walmart. When the police arrived, Burnes was wearing women’s clothing.
The Mercury News: San Jose Sex Offender Wearing Fake Breasts, Wig Arrested for Loitering in Women’s Restroom(January 26, 2009) San Jose, Calif. – In January of 2009, Richard Rendler, a 60-year-old male and registered sex offender, was arrested for wearing fake breasts and a wig while loitering inside a women’s restroom. Rendler was arrested on misdemeanor loitering charges, having previously been arrested on charges of child molestation and indecent exposure.
Purdue University: Purdue Police Investigate Report of Man Taking Photographs in Women’s Restroom(March 31, 2008) West Lafayette, Ind. – In March of 2008, an unidentified man wearing makeup and women’s clothing was confronted for taking pictures of a woman in a bathroom stall. When confronted by the woman, he denied he had any pictures of the victim. A staff member who was in the restroom asked the man to accompany her to the main office, but the man ran off.
“Mary Peltola has supported biological men in women’s locker rooms and private facilities, biological men competing in women’s sports, preventing parents from knowing their children’s public school curriculum, what books are being made available to their children, or what pronouns are being used for their child at school,” said Nick Begich, who is running to replace Peltola.
“Peltola has even encouraged donations be sent to Identity, Inc., an organization that provides gender transition treatments to children in Alaska. Like so many things in life there’s a big difference between the ads and the truth. In taking these positions, Peltola supports neither women nor families but in fact supports policies that erode the opportunities and rights of both,” he said.
Recently, I attended a candidate forum for District 36 and Senate Seat R candidates in Glennallen. The forum was hosted by Copper Valley Chamber of Commerce. The president and vice-president of the Glennallen High School Student Council asked the questions, and three students from the Government Studies class kept the candidates accountable for their response times.
One of the candidates who opposes the repeal of ranked-choice voting (i.e. opposes Ballot Measure Two) based his opposition on how, under RCV, we all get to vote for our preferred candidate. That statement really struck a chord with me. I’ll be kind and chalk up this candidate’s logic to youthful naivety. However, the other candidate who also opposes repeal of ranked-choice voting via Ballot Measure Two didn’t have naivety as an excuse, and yet he also fell on that same logic-sword.
One of these candidates was running as a Democrat and the other as “Undeclared.”
My first time voting as an Alaskan was back in 1986. But you don’t have to recall our history back that far in order to understand what having voter choice really means. Just reference the election directly preceding the RCV debacle and one can see ballots with Libertarians, Alaska Independents, and Greens.
I wondered: Do these two candidates in Glenallen’s candidate forum even know what a petition candidate is?
Let’s look at the ballots for this year, 2024, vs. 2022. All I see are Republicans, Democrats, and chameleon “undeclared” candidates. And even worse, there are a maximum of four choices for any ballot except president. I don’t see how this result, which is a direct outgrowth of RCV, provides for more choice or allows voters the option to vote for who we truly want. If Ballot Measure Two fails and ranked-choice voting is retained, we will never see Libertarian, Green, Alaska Independent Party (AIP), truly independent, or even petition candidates ever again. We will be stuck with just the two dominant parties.
For sure, the two candidates at the Glenallen forum also lamented how under ranked-choice voting they don’t have to throw away their vote on a single, less popular candidate, but could now pick their “top” choice (I guess to appease their conscience) and yet still have a second shot at electing their back-up candidate. Talk about victim mentality! Who is to say a Libertarian candidate isn’t electable? I even remember some Alaskan Independence Party candidates that gave other candidates a run for their money. Or when Wally Hickel joined the AIP party to win the governorship against Arliss Sturgulewski—who had won the Republican primary.
If I remember my history, the Republican Party was once an upstart party in Alaska.
Freedom of choice is not a gift from government. It is to be protected from the government. Freedom exists in protecting us all from the tyranny of the majority.
Until ranked choice voting was passed, all Alaskans had the power to cast their vote for the candidate they preferred. They could peaceably assemble with other like-minded Alaskans as members of formal political parties to elect their own champion from the slate of general election candidates. They could choose to stay independent of party politics and work to get a candidate on the ballot by petition or run for the office themselves. They could even just wait and see who to choose from at the general election and if totally unsatisfied, write in a candidate.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski won re-election that way. But now she is a senator, not truly elected by popular vote, but shoved down the people’s throats through ranked-choice voting.
So if you believe ranked choice voting is the best option for Alaskan’s voting freedom, or represents democracy at its finest because we all get to choose the candidate we want, then I suggest you go to the Division of Elections website and look over the ballots for your District from past years and see what real choice and democracy meant back then. Before too long, we may not remember what true democracy actually looks like.
Mark Somerville has been an Alaska resident since 1984 and is a Biologist He lives in Kenny Lake and describes himself as a registered Republican.
