RollCall has place Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola on its list of “most vulnerable incumbents.”
Peltola, running for her second term, made her debut on the list of the top 10 most-vulnerable incumbent House members “after the state’s complicated primary process ended up with only one GOP opponent compared with the two she faced in 2022,” the political news and analysis publication says.
Last week, Cook Political Report announced that Republican Nick Begich has pulled even with Peltola, with just six weeks until the election ends.
The situation for Peltola got worse after the Alaska Democratic Party failed to get another Democrat kicked off the November ballot. Eric Hafner is the Democrats’ worst nightmare this election, as they had planned on having Republicans “split the vote” on the ranked-choice voting method used in the Alaska general election. Instead, they have two Democrats.
Notably, Roll Call characterizes Alaska’s voting system as “complicated.”
“The bill is coming due for extreme Democrat Mary Peltola selling out Alaskans to Biden, Harris and the radical Left’s agenda. While Peltola votes for open borders, against military pay raises and against veterans’ benefits, Nick Begich will secure the border and support our troops,” said National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Ben Petersen.
It’s that time of year again, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pushing that new Covid jab into your arm and into everyone’s arm who is six months or older.
The CDC no longer calls it a booster shot — it now marketed as an annual shot, much like your annual flu vaccine. But a rose by any other name is still a rose.
It doesn’t matter if children have an extremely low death rate from Covid or that no child under the age of 18 In Alaska has died from Covid. And it doesn’t matter that deaths from Covid are more common among people who have co-morbidities. It also doesn’t seem to matter there have been serious side-effects from the shot itself.
The Public Service Announcements are running nonstop, to include the need to protect grandma from this disease.
What should be pushed in Alaska is not the jab. What should be pushed in Alaska is people becoming intensely aware of their Vitamin D levels.
Last November in Must Read Alaska, I stated Vitamin D is critical to a robust immune system. Additionally, I pointed to a study done in Israel that demonstrated the Covid mortality rate for those with insufficient vitamin D levels was 25.6%, compared to 2.3% among those with sufficient vitamin D levels.
I know it’s no surprise to you we are losing sunlight daily. Winter is upon us, and you aren’t going to get much vitamin D from the sun.
Alaskans should be informed by their public health system that Vitamin D levels are critical for fighting infection and viruses. Instead, public health is once again pushing a Covid jab for all ages.
With the number of potential side effects from the mRNA vaccines, one should think twice about rolling up one’s sleeve and instead head to the nearest store to get some Vitamin D.
It is important to stay up to date with Covid, the government’s involvement, and what else is being planned for you in the future. I know you are tired of hearing about Covid.
Yet the masks mandates are starting back up again in parts of our country.
And doctors are still losing their board certifications because of their stance that covid jabs have too many side-effects. A German medical board recently fined a doctor $2,799 for warning people about dying from the Covid mRNA injections in 2021.
Yes, the beat goes on. I feel like this is Groundhog’s Day 4.0. The rhetoric is the same, the rules are the same, and they are once again gearing up to constrain your freedom.
What can you do about it? Be knowledgeable. Keep informed.
Join us for our next Covid Alliance Event on Oct. 26: “Alaskans 4 Personal Freedom.” Our speakers include:
Dr Meryl Nass, speaking on the World Health Organization and its threat to our national sovereignty. She will also delve into details on the newest “plandemic” in the making and discuss how the global elites plan to disrupt your food supply.
Lt. Col. Dr. Theresa Long, a whistleblower who testified before Congress, will address military vaccine issues and injury.
Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, cofounder of “DoNoHarm,” will speak on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in medical schools, and how this policy has affected what new doctors are learning or not learning in their educational process.
Dr. Pam Popper will address “Using the Courts to Restore Our Right,” in which she will discuss vaccine lawsuits that have been filed and what success we have had in this area.
Dr. Joel Wallskog, co-founder of React19, will recount his own vaccine injury, and unpack what avenues are open to others who were injured by this vaccine.
Dr. Ryan Cole, who had his medical license restricted in the state of Washington for prescribing Ivermectin to Covid patients via telemedicine, will speak about turbo cancers that have occurred since the start of the Covid pandemic.
Dr. James Lindsay will speak about culture wars and their effect on our children.
Dr. Peter Breggin will speak on “Thinning the Herd. The pandemic as a global Milgram experiment.”
Our own Dr. Ilona Farr will speak on “Finding Solutions To Treat Health Problems Caused by Covid-19.”
For just $55, you can stay ahead of the fake news and decide for yourself what’s best for you and your family. The price for the conference includes a hot plated lunch at the Egan Center, Anchorage.
Go to this link to purchase tickets and we’ll see you there.
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.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, joined Senator Ted Cruz and several of his colleaguesin sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce demanding answers regarding the implementation of Commerce’s new financial management system, which has disrupted National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s weather forecast operations and delayed financial relief for fishery disasters, particularly in Alaska’s small coastal communities. The federal failure has also threatened the availability of safety information for aviators and mariners, and left agency employees without reimbursement for official travel expenses.
NOAA was the first agency to implement Commerce’s new $341 million “Business Application Solution” program built by Accenture Federal Services. Designed to modernize financial and business management applications, the software’s implementation has resulted in significant system failures, delays, and cost overruns.
“The first rollout, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in October 2023, has caused a backlog of thousands of unpaid invoices reportedly resulting in a loss of both alerts in tornado prone areas and vital weather information for pilots,” the senators wrote. “Even a short-term interruption in vital weather information and alert systems is an unacceptable tradeoff for transitioning to a new financial management system. In addition to these disruptions, there have been unnecessary delays in Fishery Disaster allocations. There are currently seven separate unfunded fishery disaster requests for salmon fisheries alone. This delay has been particularly catastrophic for small communities, like St. Paul Island, Alaska, where the collapse of crab fisheries has had enormous economic impacts. We are concerned what other adverse effects may result if the Department continues to roll out the new system without changes.”
“It is our understanding the Department has been aware of the need for improved transition management for some time,” the senators added. “One year after the Department awarded the contract for the new system—known as the Business Application Solution (BAS)—the DOC Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a Management Alert, stating that DOC needed to develop key inputs and align with known best practices. The Department failed to heed this warning as two subsequent OIG audit reports pointed, again, to a failure to implement basic management controls.”
The Inspector General’s report also found that changes in the BAS system to fix the issues experienced by NOAA will likely result in significant cost increases.
The senators want more information on how many sub-agencies have been negatively impacted by the failures and when the problems are expected to be resolved.
Joining Sens. Sullivan and Cruz in sending this letter were Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, and Katie Britt of Alabama.
As the Juneau Assembly addresses several looming economic issues, voters will decide three significant ballot propositions in their upcoming Oct. 1 municipal election, each with weighty financial implications.
Proposition #2, labelled “Ship-Free Saturdays”, targets Juneau’s cruise industry and the local businesses and jobs it supports. If passed, the proposition would slash city revenues by some estimates up to $4 million annually and result in visitor-related job losses.
Propositions #1 and #3 are separate bond issues dealing with public safety and water infrastructure that total $22.75 million. Together they would increase, by approximately 60%, the municipality’s outstanding general obligation (G.O.) bond debt, estimated at about $36 million at yearend 2023.
As standalone proposals, these ballot issues require critical scrutiny, but they don’t exist in a vacuum.
In the past year, Assembly members have tackled major unanticipated expenditures to plug budget gaps at the Juneau School District and Bartlett Regional Hospital resulting in millions of dollars added to the city budget. Putting even more strain on city finances, the Assembly has continued to hoard tens of millions of dollars for new city offices and a new cultural arts center project rejected by voters. To date, the total cost of the cultural arts facility and its annual subsidy remain unknown.
Then, last month a glacial outburst flooded 300 homes and hundreds of vehicles in the Mendenhall Valley. Recovery efforts are ongoing but mitigation of future floodswill be expensive and may take years to complete. Some of the city’s costs for recovery and mitigation may be reimbursed but future liability is unknown and will likely be substantial.
Juneau voters should consider all of the above when deciding how to vote on the three ballot propositions.
The “Ship-Free Saturday” petition proposes banning cruise ships with a capacity for 250 or more passengers on Saturdays and the Fourth of July, starting in 2025. It is particularly worrisome because it reduces the city’s annual revenues at a time when they are critically needed.
Passage of the proposition would send a message to the rest of the state that, apparently, Juneau is so flush with cash, we don’t need to worry about city finances. Clearly, that is not the case.
Citizen task force recommendations for a daily five-ship limit and an industry agreement to cap cruise passengers have been adopted by the city and are now being implemented. These cooperative solutions should be allowed to work before considering additional measures.
Furthermore, the legality of blocking ships from visiting Juneau is questionable and will probably be tested in court. Acting prematurely by passing this proposition undercuts the city-sponsored collaborative process and will likely result in years of costly litigation.
Voters should reject this attempt to circumvent years of productive, good-faith efforts engaged in by the city and the industry that have mitigated industry impacts.
The other two ballot propositions are a tougher call.
Ballot Proposition #1 authorizes $12,750,000 in G.O. bond debt to fund infrastructure repairs, equipment replacements, and technological improvements to Juneau’s deteriorating public safety communications system.
Ballot Proposition #3 will authorize $10,000,000 in G.O. bond debt to reconstruct the clarifier building at the Juneau Douglas Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Based on available information, it appears both are needed projects.
The question voters should ask themselves, is the timing right and is this the best way to pay for them?
Both projects would replace aging systems and facilities that have been ignored for years. We all want public safety to have the best communications possible and our wastewater to be handled dependably. But why weren’t these issues addressed in the regular budget process before they became critical?
Surprising taxpayers with large projects at the crisis stage is not the answer.
The City and Borough of Juneau has sufficient debt capacity for these projects, so that if passed, property taxes would not need to be increased. But, if voters say “YES”, this proposition will replace bonding capacity that could be used for flood mitigation or another unanticipated emergency. Saying “YES” would also make it more difficult for the Assembly to consider citizen property tax relief.
Until the full extent of the city’s financial obligations are known, Juneau voters should be wary of significantly increasing debt or reducing city revenues.
After retiring as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in Alaska, Win Gruening became a regular opinion page columnist for the Juneau Empire. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is involved in various local and statewide organizations.
The Alaska Democratic Party has appealed the decision by Superior Court Judge Ian Wheeles that allows Democrat felon Eric Hafner to remain on the ballot for the Alaska congressional race. Hafner’s name will show up for voters along with Rep. Mary Peltola, Nick Begich and John Wayne Howe for the ranked-choice voting in the congressional contest.
The Alaska Supreme Court will hear the case on an expedited basis, since the printing of the ballots for November is already under way and any delay in overturning of the lower court decision may impact the elections in ways that have never been seen in Alaska.
The appeal will be heard Thursday at 10:15 a.m. and will be live-streamed on ktoo.org/gavel.
Judge Wheeles’ decision says that the Democrats have made up all kinds of imaginary possibilities for the future that they have no way of knowing or proving, and that Eric Hafner is within his rights to file as a candidate, and the Division of Elections made no error of judgment in allowing him to take the fourth slot on the ballot, since two previous candidates had dropped out after the primary.
Wheeles said that “one’s failure to plan does not constitute another’s emergency,” of the Democrats and their challenge of Eric Hafner’s name on the ballot. It’s their own fault they didn’t challenge Hafner’s qualifications in the legal time allowed, which is 10 days after the closure of the candidate filing period.
“Plaintiffs’ complaint is not about the action or status of Hafner or the action or determination of the Defendants, but with the amendments of Ballot Measure 2 itself,” Wheeles wrote. “Plaintiffs complain that the statutes allow a candidate, such as Hafner, to unilaterally choose his party affiliation and declare it on the ballot. The court is applying that law to the facts and finds that Hafner is acting within his legal right to declare his registered voter affiliation and have it listed on the ballot. The court is likewise applying that law to the facts and finds that the Division is properly printing ballots as such. Plaintiffs allege no violation of law by Defendants or Hafner and no resulting harm. As a final point, Defendants argue that Plaintiffs’ case amounts to a veiled or improperly pled election contest. Plaintiffs dispute this characterization. The court made the analogy that one’s failure to plan does not constitute another’s emergency. The time sensitivity of this motion is inescapable. Equally inescapable is the reality that Plaintiffs could have pursued this relief at any time after Hafner filed his declaration of candidacy in late May.”
The Alaska Republican Party weighed in on the appeal:
“The Superior Court’s ruling in the case of Alaska Democratic Party v. State of Alaska, Division of Elections was a victory for all Alaskans. Superior Court Judge Ian Wheeles denied the motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. In short, the court got it right, and clearly agreed with the Alaska Republican Party – if the courts had found for the plaintiffs in this case, the irreparable harm would have been to Alaskans and our electoral process, not to the Alaska Democratic Party. Ultimately, the rights of the Alaskan voters prevailed,” said Carmela Warfield, Alaska Republican Party chairwoman.
“In their argument, the Alaska Democratic Party argued that the second Democrat on the ballot could impact the election by taking votes away from their preferred candidate. This is the direct result of the ranked choice voting scheme that is currently the law in Alaska. The Alaska Democratic Party seems just as frustrated as so many other Alaskans are with this ill-conceived law. They are so frustrated that they have appealed the court’s ruling to the Alaska Supreme Court, and the Alaska Republican Party will be right there with the people of Alaska,” Warfield said.
“All Alaskans — regardless of party affiliation – have the opportunity this November to prevent this type of nonsense from ever happening again by returning to a system of fair elections that all Alaskans can be proud of,” Warfield said.
The entire ruling issued by Judge Ian Wheeles of Anchorage Superior Court, which denies the Alaska Democratic Party its wishes to pull a Democrat’s name from the November ballot, can be read below.
In a dramatic turn of events, the Alaska Democrat Party is now expressing disdain over the ranked-choice voting system with the same fervor that Republicans have shown for years. This change in attitude is fueled by the shocking inclusion of an out-of-state felon on the House ballot –a development that has ignited significant backlash within the Democrat party.
Eric Hafner, a Democrat currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in New York for threatening public officials in New Jersey, has never lived in Alaska and has no ties to the state. Yet, astonishingly, he has advanced to the “final four” candidates on the November ballot due to the dropout of two competitors ahead of him.
How did an incarcerated felon with no Alaskan residency even make it onto our ballot? This fact highlights one of the glaring flaws in our damaged election system.
Hafner’s unexpected place on the November ballot has ignited a strong response from the Democratic Party, who recently sued the Division of Elections in an unsuccessful attempt to remove Hafner. Hafner’s inclusion threatens to split the vote, echoing the 2022 Palin-Begich dynamic.
But Hafner’s place on the ballot isn’t the first instance we’ve seen of outsiders attempting to influence our elections. In 2022, Shoshana Gungurstein, an actress from California, launched a campaign in Alaska for U.S. Senate.
Gungurstein registered to vote in Alaska in April of 2022, then subsequently filed her candidacy. Gungurstein’s late registration disqualified her from running in any state-level races, but the US Constitution, being looser with its election laws, allowed her to run for US Senate. Her campaign was also primarily funded by out-of-state sources.
Between the rising occurrences of outsiders attempting to weasel their ways into our elections, suspicion about Dominion voting machines, and the influx of dark money from outside sources, have led both Democrats and Republicans to question the integrity of our election system. It’s clear that our democratic process is under threat.
Alaska’s Supreme Court has already addressed the unconstitutionality RCV, but the fight isn’t over. Support our efforts by visiting www.yeson2ak.com and voting YES ON 2 this November to ditch RCV as our electoral method.
Michaela Emswiler is with Yes on 2, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for all Alaskans by providing education and advocacy concerning policy issues impacting Alaska and the nation, including education and research about how Alaskan elections operate.
I would like to address the problems that the ranked choice voting election system has created in the great state of Alaska.
This system was initiated by Alaskans for Better Elections. The organization was given an immense amount of dark moneyfrom organizations from outside of our state to ensure that RCV would be implemented statewide. We became aware of how awful this system was when it impacted our 2022 election.
As a resident of Alaska for over 35 years, I would like to list a few of my concerns with the ranked choice voting system:
There is a jungle primary, which has numerous problems. One of the problems is that there is no vetting. This opens the door to fraud and manipulation of the system. This recently came to light when a convicted felon incarcerated in New York placed his name on the ballot to run against Mary Peltola as the Democrat candidate.
One person is not selected for the party during the primary vote. This results in the vote being split out if you have two people of equal likability and similar views on the issues. This can occur whether you are Republican, Democrat, or Independent.
Because of the complexity of the system, there is a long delay in receiving the results. I remember knowing the results in 24 hours prior to ranked-choice voting, while now it is three weeks or more. This again opens up a door of opportunity for fraud.
Many of the ballots were trashed in the 2022 election, because the people did not understand how to vote. If you have to send out instructions and pay for commercials to tell people how to vote, you do not have a user friendly system.
Recently we have been bombarded by commercials for “No on 2”; their intent is for the Ranked Choice Voting System to remain in place. The commercials, again, are being initiated by Alaskans for Better Elections with outside dark money. They tried everything, to try to keep the repeal of ranked-choice voting off the ballot in 2024; even taking it to the Alaska Supreme Court, so that Alaskans would not have a voice as to whether they would like to keep RCV or return to the traditional closed election system that we have used for hundreds of years. They lost the battle in court, so now they are using $4.3 million indark money they received in August to tell us that we don’t want dark money used in our state to influence our election. This is the definition of deception.
The bottom line is: Don’t fall for their attempt to deceive and confuse; vote YES on Ballot Measure 2.
L. Kathryn Holmstrom is a concerned resident of Alaska.
You may have read recent commentaries that have made claims about what it means to support public safety. All too often, what gets lost in the discussion are the voices of actual public safety workers. Most of the time, those public safety workers are restricted from speaking out publicly about political issues, and they have a strong desire to remain neutral and above the fray of partisanship.
But there should be no mistake that there are issues that impact public safety workers such as police officers both positively and negatively. Unfortunately, the union bosses who claim to speak on behalf of the officers are so intertwined with partisan political allegiances and special interests that they often no longer make an attempt to reflect the views of their membership.
The discussion about defined benefits in Alaska is one of the best examples of how union bosses simply ignore the best interests of their membership. The bosses ignore their members who value the economic freedom and ownership that defined-contribution plans provide. The mobility provided by the defined-contribution plans allows for career growth opportunities. The union bosses simply don’t acknowledge how portable retirement plans that are owned by the employee allow them to take hundreds of thousands of dollars with them when they make life choices that benefit them personally. These types of plans benefited private sector workers beginning decades ago, and unfortunately, government workers were left behind.
The union bosses ignore the fact that the state of Alaska, taxpayers and all government workers deserve economic freedom that comes with a cost-specific retirement system that allows individuals to build wealth and provide income for retirement. This approach of allowing individuals to take personal responsibility instead of saddling taxpayers with unfunded liabilities benefits both the taxpayer and the individual with the retirement plan.
Why do the union bosses continually advocate for an outdated government-based system of retirement benefits? They constantly talk about retention and the cost of training and turnover. But police departments across the country all are facing severe manpower shortages and recruiting challenges. Most of those departments have outdated pension systems that Alaska has fortunately left behind. The union bosses want to prevent their members from leaving with hundreds of thousands of dollars and instead handcuff them to jobs that may no longer fit in their family life. And other departments have shown that those handcuffs don’t work anyway in retention efforts.
My interest and expertise on this topic comes from a unique perspective and life experience. I “retired” from a 20-year Wall Street career and became a police officer to serve the community I love. I served clients and help many transition from old-style pension plans to lucrative, wealth-building personal 401(k) accounts. Millions of working class Americans have benefited from being part of this wealth-building investor mindset instead of relying on the government to provide for when you retire.
Our current Alaska system takes a mandatory 13% of my gross salary that is contributed to my personal account. The required contributions are invested in prudent long-term investments, which prevent risky gambles of critical retirement benefits. This 13% is only the beginning of the opportunity for me and my coworkers to make other retirement contributions that are also matched.
My union has repeatedly attacked and vilified me for standing up for my coworkers. I have been elected as a union board member twice. I won a recall election that was initiated because I dared to challenge the union bosses on defined benefits. The union has done everything possible to silence me because I refuse to go along and support the union’s positions that hurt the membership. I implore you to talk to your friend or neighbor who happens to be a police officer. You should know that the union bosses consistently ignore their members and will not allow them to weigh in when the unions make political decisions.
Christopher Wright is a senior patrol officer with the Anchorage Police Department and speaks on behalf of himself. He is an elected executive board member of the Anchorage Police Department Employees Association. Wright has been a police officer for almost seven years after spending two decades in investment management.
