Page 787 – Must Read Alaska

Mayor Dan: One fight too many for Trump

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November 11, 2022

By DAN SULLIVAN

For many of us who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, there was no more compelling figure than Muhammad Ali. Arguably the greatest boxer of all time, his persona was bold, larger than life. He did things different. He called his opponents names: Sonny Liston was The Big Ugly Bear. Joe Frazier was The Gorilla. George Foreman was The Mummy. He confidently predicted his rounds of victory.

He delighted the media with his poetry and with his quick wit and sense of humor, unless of course they were the objects of his sarcasm and out right scorn. He took on the U.S. government, defying the draft during the Vietnam war on religious grounds, and he prevailed. He became a Muslim, which was controversial at the time.

As a boxer, he accomplished everything his sport had to offer, becoming the world champion on three occasions and accumulating wealth and popularity beyond any childhood dreams. Alas, he did the one thing that boxers should never do, but too often do anyway. He kept fighting when it was no longer possible for him to prevail. I’ll never forget cringing with every blow laid upon him by the then-champion Larry Holmes, a fight that should never have been allowed. Hubris led a lesser Muhammad Ali to believe that he was still the greatest. All good things come to an end.

I am hoping that this will not be the story of Donald J. Trump.

The parallels with Ali are all too similar. The 45^th president is also a fighter. He can counterpunch in the political ring with the best as evidenced by his disdain and public rebuke of a hypocritical and biased press. Despite the mainstream media and a deep state government working against him, Donald Trump had four successful years as President, leaving a strong economy, a far more secure border, a stable international geopolitical scene, and a renewed belief in the greatness of America.

This last mid-term election has seen the rise of several legitimate challengers to the aging former President. Governor Ron DeSantis has certainly proven himself a strong leader who is well liked among Florida’s diverse population. Others like Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo all seem to have the right stuff.

I can’t imagine the name calling schtick that took down “low energy Jeb” and “little Marco” resonating against the likes of Ron DeSantis. Trump’s initial foray into that arena fell as flat as George Foreman in the “Rumble in the Jungle.” Ron DeSanctimonious? Really?

Donald Trump will be making an announcement in a few days. Many believe he will be announcing his bid for a third try at the Presidency. With all due respect, I hope not. I voted for him in 2016 and along with millions of Americans marveled at what he was able to accomplish during his one term. I admired how he took the jabs, the left hooks, the right crosses thrown at him every day by powerful institutions, yet still managed to successfully promote the America First agenda.

But the nation has moved on. The same conservative message delivered by new charismatic Republican leaders is the way forward. If President Trump enters the political ring again, it will prove to be one fight too many and it will cost us the White House.

Dan Sullivan was mayor of Anchorage for two terms.

Anchorage school district bails out Teamster pension plan

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR

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November 11, 2022

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Anchorage school district bails out Teamster pension plan

By DAVID BOYLES

The Anchorage School Board last week unanimously voted to accept the Teamsters Local 959 (bus drivers/attendants) contract demands. Part of those demands includes the taxpayer bailing out an underfunded Teamster Pension Fund; for all teamsters—not just the ones employed by the school district.

This pension fund has been under water since June 2011. In 2020 the U.S. Department of Labor put this Teamster-Employer Pension Plan into a continued “critical” status, meaning that members would receive reduced benefits.

These reduced benefits have been in effect since July 2011. Giving more money to this fund won’t help fix the bad management practices, nor will it guarantee the employees will get the benefit of this plan in the future.

How much will this cost Anchorage taxpayers?

The district must pay the fund $1 for each hour of compensation earned by an employee with six or less years of service. The district must fund $2 an hour for all other employees.

At 40 hours/week, that would mean $80/week just to pay to bail out the Teamsters Pension Fund. The employee sees none of this. The district pays the entire cost.

What are the employees to expect from the taxpayer contributions to this “pension plan”? Maybe nothing.

The contract says, “It is the intention of the parties that the employees be covered by both (PERS and Teamster) pension plans.” The contract “intent” is not binding enough to provide employees any benefits.

This does not bode well for the employees because the Alaska Teamster Employer Pension Trust has not been managed well enough to ensure benefits for these employees.

The Teamsters have slipped an additional penalty on the taxpayers in the following language:

“The District agrees to pay, in accordance with the Pension Protection Act, an employer supplemental contribution required due to the critical status designation of the Alaska Teamster Employer Pension Trust.

Because the Teamster Pension Trust has not been managed properly and in a fiscally responsible manner, Anchorage taxpayers must ante up even more to ensure the viability of the fund.

As a final gesture, the Teamsters Union says that if there is an increase in this supplemental contribution, then the bus drivers’ wages will be reduced. So, the Anchorage taxpayer loses, and the employee loses.

The school district has a fiduciary responsibility to ensure these taxpayer funds are managed properly. But the District cannot possibly do this when it has no control over the fund’s management.

The contract states, “The details of the plan will be determined by the Board of Trustees of the Alaska Teamster-Employer Pension Trust Fund, in accordance with the Trust Agreement of June 21, 1966. The Employer (school district) and the Union agree to be bound by said Trust Agreement and all lawful amendments thereto…”

This means that the Teamsters call the shots, and the district must obey. This puts the district in a very poor position regarding costs. The new contract takes away any power the school district had, and it must adhere to the Teamster union decisions.

Anything to save the Teamsters underwater Pension Trust.

There is a legally questionable clause in the contract agreement that pertains to mandatory union membership. This hinges on the U.S. Supreme Court Janus decision, June 2018.

The contract states. “…the district will not in any manner restrain or attempt to restrain any employee from belonging to the Union…”. This implies that the district cannot provide information to the employee that one does not have to belong to the Union to keep his/her job. The Janus decision clearly states that one does not have to belong to a government union to keep one’s job. It is an infringement of one’s First Amendment rights to do otherwise.

This contract flies in the face of the SCOTUS Janus decision.

The School Board is funneling taxpayer dollars into a union pension fund with no accountability and, more importantly, with potentially no benefits for our employees.

The Teamsters Union wins. The bus drivers and attendants lose. The Anchorage taxpayer loses. And the school district’s budget hole gets even deeper. More information is at this link.

Downing: Palin sets up a victim narrative for her national ‘blatantly go rogue’ relaunch

Suzanne Downing

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November 10, 2022

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By SUZANNE DOWNING

Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska, spun the election this week in a long diatribe, a series of social media posts, and a video. All of it says that she won the congressional race and is going to Washington to meet with the Freedom Caucus. She was on a plane today, heading out of state on her way to D.C.

On social media, she said the election has been “#rigged.” She began setting up the narrative that Dominion voting machines stole the election from her and somehow it was Nick Begich’s fault.

She circled for readers how she has 4 million followers on Instagram and Nick has 14,000. She did not compare herself to the apparent winner, Mary Peltola, who has 13,500 Instagram followers. Instead, she compared herself to the third-place finisher. In her mind, Instagram followers equal voters.

Some 73% of Alaska voters did not pick Palin, the most famous Alaskan in history, in the first round of voting. The vast majority of voters did not vote for her in the primary, nor in the special general election back in August.

Instead, of the 214,659 counted so far in the Nov. 8 general election, 101,441 Alaskans chose a Democrat. Mary Peltola has over 47.5% of the vote.

Another 24% of voters chose a different Republican than Palin. They picked Nick. And less than 2% chose a Libertarian, Chris Bye.

Palin is evidently counting on Peltola, the victorious Democrat, to bring Palin second-round votes. She courted those votes throughout the past four months by cozying up to Peltola and telling people that everything was just wonderful about her dear friend Peltola, except that she was with the wrong party.

Here is the problem for Palin’s theory: As the leader in votes, Peltola voters’ second-round votes will never be counted.

Palin doesn’t seem to understand ranked choice voting. The only second-round votes that will get counted are from Bye, who has 3,716 first choice votes (1.73%), and Nick Begich III, who has 51,927 votes, (24.19%). If every single second vote went Palin, she could win. That never happens.

So what else is Palin really doing with this unlikely argument that she is the victor?

She’s launching her victim narrative for the national stage. The audience in this bizarre quest to become the face of the vote victim is not local Alaskans. It’s her audience at the NewsMax platform, where she is appearing more frequently as a talking news analyst.

She will tell the world, without proof, that the election was stolen from her.

In her social media rant, she blamed Dominion voting machines, the Republican Party (although on Sunday she had spoken on the stage at the party’s rally), Lisa Murkowski, Nick Begich, and politicos. She blamed everyone but the impressive candidate and campaign of Mary Peltola and herself.

Palin also said she is hiring Jerry Ward as her chief of staff, and she gave out his email address for everyone to direct their questions to him, because she was expecting to be very busy with the Freedom Caucus this week.

This seems unhinged, but she will never accept a loss. That would be bad for her brand. The claim of victory sets the table for the media feast that she’ll preside over, along with other Trump-backed candidates who lost.

Even Kelly Tshibaka, who still holds the lead over Sen. Lisa Murkowski, has not declared victory. With her 44% result to Murkowski’s 42%, the math is just too difficult for Tshibaka. It will take a miracle.

Sen. Murkowski has also not declared victory, in spite of the fact that the Democrat votes from Pat Chesbro will come over in Round 3 and pull her to the 50+1% she needs to win.

And Rep. Mary Peltola, clearly in the catbird’s seat in this election with all the Outside money and the ranked choice voting advantage, is also not claiming victory.

Only Sarah Palin is claiming victory.

“We anticipate victory, despite not having election results tonight due to our assumed election integrity,” Palin said, throwing in a touch of sarcasm and giving a clue to what her next chapter will be. “The GOP establishment deserves losses until it’s willing to FIGHT for what is right.”

If the GOP establishment deserves losses, does that also apply to Palin?

The grassroots Republicans of the state may take offense to Palin’s slamming of them. They’ve worked hard.

In 2020, many Alaskans fought hard against the ranked choice voting Alaska was being sold by dark money from Outside. It won by a small margin, and many Alaskans will start fighting to undo this system that is patently unfair. We can at least appreciate that Palin sees the problem, but she has made it about her, which could make Ballot Measure 2, with its open primary and ranked choice voting, difficult to repeal. Palin cannot be the leader to repeal the ballot measure, because she is now just too unhinged.

Many Alaskans have also been fighting with all they have to keep the Republican governor from being recalled by the Democrats, and to get this conservative governor reelected.

Many Alaskans worked as volunteers for candidates day after day to keep the state from going off the rails. Alaskans showed up at precinct meetings and community councils. Palin was nowhere to be found in the state until Don Young died.

Palin also said she is going to go even more “blatantly rogue.” Whatever that means, we can hope she takes it elsewhere and goes rogue on some other population.

As a conservative, I am disappointed that Alaska has been added to the column for the Democrats. Today, every county and borough that touches the Pacific Ocean has gone Democrat in the U.S. House, now that Mary Peltola is the likely victor.

That’s not what Congressman Don Young would have wanted, no matter what the D.C. Mafia told Alaskans. He was proud to be one of the last two conservative congressional representatives on the Left Coast. He also wanted to stay in office to see Nancy Pelosi ushered out of the Speaker’s Chambers.

This congressional race has a bleak outcome for our state’s economy. It is discouraging to see how many soft conservatives and swing voters who voted for Peltola simply because she is nice and simply because they wanted to be a part of history.

Palin encouraged that vote for Mary Peltola every step of the way. As much as anyone, she owns this.

Suzanne Downing is publisher of Must Read Alaska.

Strange: Palin presumes victory, hires Ward as acting chief of staff

Win Gruening: Judging our judges, balancing the judicial selection process

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR

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November 10, 2022

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Win Gruening: Judging our judges, balancing the judicial selection process

By WIN GRUENING

Based on preliminary election results, it appears Alaskan voters will once again reject holding a state constitutional convention. That doesn’t mean the reasons many voters favored the idea were invalid. A flood of outside dark money directed towards “Vote No” dwarfed the “Vote Yes” effort.

Potential issues addressed at a constitutional convention run the gamut, but how judges are selected ought to top the list.

Contrary to assertions of its boosters, Alaska’s method of selecting judges can be and should be changed.

I appreciate some aspects of Alaska’s current judicial selection system. Unlike some states, our judges are not elected. Nor, like federal judges and U. S. Supreme Court justices, are they appointed under a system where selections primarily come down to perceived ideological lines. State judicial selection systems operating exclusively this way can legitimately be critiqued for tilting judge selection (and retention) toward a political free-for-all, exposing judges to potential pressure from legislators, voters and donors.

Alaska’s system was intended to avoid these pitfalls by employing a 7-member commission that vets candidates for selection and publishes judicial ratings for voters when judges come up for retention.

The commission, the Alaska Judicial Council, was created by the Alaska Constitution and is comprised of three non-attorney members chosen by the Governor, three attorney members chosen by the Alaska Bar Association, and the Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court, an ex officio member who serves as chair. After researching each applicant and anonymously polling all active, inactive, and retired members of the bar residing in Alaska, the Council chooses at least two candidates for each vacancy and forwards the names to the Governor. The Governor must appoint from that list.

This sounds non-partisan, but it would be a mistake to think the process isn’t political. When Alaska’s Constitution was drafted, the Alaska Bar Association and its national counterpart, the American Bar Association (ABA), were considered impartial and non-partisan. Not anymore.

Indeed, the American Bar Association has a history of taking liberal positions on issues including abortion, the death penalty, same-sex marriage, affirmative action, and the Second Amendment. The organization has long been accused of maintaining a bias towards liberal judges that has skewed its ratings of judicial nominees towards the left. By any objective standard, this is undeniable.

To see where the Alaska Bar Association is coming from, look no further than Elie Mystal, the featured speaker at their October state convention held in Anchorage.

Mystal, a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, is a political commentator, guest pundit on MSNBC, and self-described liberal. As the justice correspondent at the uber-progressive magazine, The Nation, he is an outspoken supporter of liberal causes. In a recent appearance on The View, Mystal described the U. S. Constitution as “actually trash”.

He is the author of “Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution,” which is described as an “easily digestible argument about what rights we have, what rights Republicans are trying to take away, and how to stop them.”

The bar association’s keynote speaker, Victoria Nourse, a law professor and director of Georgetown Law’s Center on Congressional Studies, was nominated for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals by Barack Obama and also served as Joe Biden’s 2015-2016 chief counsel. In her book, Misreading Law, Misreading Democracy, Nourse “offers a new take on an old worry…that five unelected Supreme Court justices can strike down laws reflecting the will of millions of citizens.”

No doubt these speakers are considered brilliant legal scholars by many lawyers but one wonders, how often do they entertain opposing points of view? Last time I looked, the Supreme Court’s job is to uphold the law — whether statutory or constitutional — as it actually exists, not enforce “the will of millions of citizens.”

Remember, four of the slots available on the Alaska Judicial Council are permanently designated for attorneys (including the chief justice who votes in cases of ties or 3-2 votes). Regardless of which elected party is in power, the council is guaranteed a majority that is forever controlled by lawyers selected by the Alaska Bar Association. It’s self-evident that lawyers of similar political leaning appointed to the council and polled by the council will prefer like-minded attorneys to be considered for judgeships.

The favored role given the legal profession in selecting judges has also played out on the national stage. Up until 2001, presidents submitted federal judicial nominees for vetting by the ABA before official nomination. President George W. Bush ended this practice because it gave inappropriate and unfair voice to the ABA in public affairs. The practice was re-instated by President Obama in 2009 and then reversed again by the Trump Administration. In a departure, however, the Biden administration decided even they couldn’t justify the practice and also spurned the ABA’s rating system.

Regrettably, national recognition of the prejudicial influence attorneys have had on judicial appointments has not resulted in similar action in Alaska.

Eliminating the legal profession’s gatekeeper role on judicial nominees will provide needed balance more closely reflecting the intent of our founding fathers – a balance that tips in favor of people’s representatives accountable to the public.

We don’t need a constitutional convention to address this problem. The Legislature can draft a constitutional amendment subject to voter approval limiting the role played by the Alaska Bar Association in the final selection process.

Nominees forwarded to the governor will then reflect a true range of choices, instead of just those favored by lawyers handpicked by unelected members of the Alaska Bar Association.

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.

Reasons for ballot rejection: Signatures, postmarks

U.S. House and Senate races that are too close to call

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR

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November 10, 2022

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U.S. House and Senate races that are too close to call

By CASEY HARPER | THE CENTER SQUARE

Two days after Election Day, several races are still too close to call, leaving the fate of the U.S. House and Senate hanging in the balance.

FiveThirtyEight currently has 210 Republican House seats compared to 200 for Democrats, leaving both short of the 218 needed to control that chamber.

The House is still leaning toward Republicans, though, with expected House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., declaring Republican control. Nancy Pelosi has not publicly weighed in, even as many wait to see if she will retire from leadership.

In fact, some races are separated by only a handful of votes. Outspoken supporter of former President Donald Trump, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., pictured above, is leading her opponent by about 400 votes at time of publication. Arizona, California, Nevada and other states also have close House races.

Control of the Senate is still undecided and may come down to a Dec. 6 Georgia runoff between Republican Herschel Walker and Democrat Raphael Warnock. Arizona’s Senate race is not called, though Democrat Mark Kelley leads Republican Blake Masters roughly 51.4% to 46.4%. The Arizona Secretary of State’s website indicates 100% of precincts reporting but Maricopa County is still reportedly working through hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots turned in on Tuesday.

In Nevada’s uncalled Senate race, Republican Adam Laxalt leads Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto 49.4% to 47.6%, with 83% reporting.

Gubernatorial races are tight as well. The closely watched governor’s race in Arizona has Republican Kari Lake behind Democrat Katie Hobbs by about 13,000 votes as counts continue Thursday.

Overall, election night disappointed many Republicans who hoped for the “red wave.”

“So after all the analysis it is clear the most likely case is both houses of Congress will go Red and the mega states of TX and FL go redder,” Matt Schlapp, chair of the Conservative Political Action Committee, wrote on Twitter. “We lost too many close races but all in all I go back to VA very pleased.”

Former President Donald Trump has taken criticism after many of the candidates he backed did not fare well, but he pushed back against those critiques in a string of posts on Truth Social Wednesday and Thursday.

“Incredible how dishonest the Fake News Media is,” he wrote. “The Failing New York Times has gone crazy. So many of the people I Endorsed went on to victory on Tuesday Night, nobody was even close, and they literally make up a story refusing to write the facts, and only quoting enemies and losers. Almost all of the people I endorsed WON, yet if you read the story from two Trump hating writers (who only do as they are told!), you would not even recognize the truth.”

Speaking at a press conference Wednesday, President Joe Biden said he always expected Democrats to do “fine” and wants to work with Republicans going forward.

“While we don’t know all of the results yet – at least, I don’t know them all yet – here’s what we do know,” he said. “While the press and the pundits are predicting a giant red wave, it didn’t happen. And I know you were somewhat miffed by my – my [sic] optimism, but I felt good during the whole process. I thought we were going to do fine.

“The American people have made clear, I think, that they expect Republicans to be prepared to work with me as well,” he added.

Casey Harper is a Senior Reporter for the Washington, D.C. Bureau. He previously worked for The Daily Caller, The Hill, and Sinclair Broadcast Group. A graduate of Hillsdale College, Casey’s work has also appeared in Fox News, Fox Business, and USA Today.

DeSantis surges, while Trump candidates are mixed in midterms

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR

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November 10, 2022

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DeSantis surges, while Trump candidates are mixed in midterms

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ sweeping win in Florida on Tuesday has propelled his stature in the Republican Party just as candidates backed by former President Donald Trump struggled on election day, setting a more favorable stage for DeSantis ahead of a potential 2024 presidential primary matchup.

DeSantis won his gubernatorial race in 2018 by about 33,000 votes. This time around, with 99% of the total reporting, DeSantis leads his Democrat opponent by more than 1.5 million votes.

DeSantis’ win validated his brand of economically strong, anti-Covid-19 restriction politics with an edge on culture war issues. He hammered home that message in his victory speech Tuesday night.

“We have embraced freedom,” DeSantis said. “We have maintained law and order. We have protected the rights of parents. We have respected our taxpayers, and we reject woke ideology … We will never ever surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die!”

Miami-Dade County supported Hillary Clinton by 29 points in 2016 but swung hard for DeSantis this year. DeSantis won that county by about 11 points.

Miami-Dade and other regions showed an impressive number of Hispanic voters side with DeSantis, a fact that would be crucial in a potential general election in 2024.

Meanwhile, Trump’s candidates did not fare as well. Candidates like Dr. Mehmet Oz and Herschel Walker, celebrities backed by Trump, struggled Tuesday. Oz lost his race, and Walker is headed for a Dec. 6 runoff.

One outspoken Trump supporter, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., is trailing as her race is near a dead tie and comes down to the wire.

“There’s no question this was a bad election for Donald Trump,” said Asher Hildebrand, former Capitol Hill Chief of Staff and current associate professor of the practice at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. “With the possible exception of Kari Lake in Arizona and Herschel Walker in Georgia, every governor and Senate candidate he endorsed in five main battleground states appears to have lost.

“…That combined with DeSantis’ strong showing in the Florida governor’s race increases pressure among Republican elites to find another standard bearer in 2024,” he added.

Others echoed that message.

“An election where Oz and Walker narrowly lose and where DeSantis romps by 20 points is the worst possible night for Trump and the best possible night for DeSantis,” Patrick Ruffini, a pollster for Echelon Insights, wrote on Twitter.

Likely aware of this narrative, Trump posted on TruthSocial Wednesday afternoon attacking DeSantis, whom he recently nicknamed “DeSanctimonious.”

During his 2016 primary campaign, Trump belittled his GOP rivals with crude nicknames.

“Now that the Election in Florida is over, and everything went quite well, shouldn’t it be said that in 2020, I got 1.1 Million more votes in Florida than Ron D got this year, 5.7 Million to 4.6 Million? Just asking?”

The stocks for TruthSocial’s merger partner, Digital World Acquisition Corp, dipped roughly 20% after Trump’s candidates did not fare well.

“While in certain ways yesterday’s election was somewhat disappointing, from my personal standpoint it was a very big victory – 219 WINS and 16 Losses in the General – Who has ever done better than that?” Trump wrote on the platform Wednesday.

Other analysts pointed out that regardless of whether Trump is the nominee in 2024, his style of politics isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“There may be an end of Trump but there won’t be an end of Trumpism,” said Adriane Lentz-Smith, associate professor and associate chair in Duke’s Department of History.

Casey Harper is a Senior Reporter for the Washington, D.C. Bureau. He previously worked for The Daily Caller, The Hill, and Sinclair Broadcast Group. A graduate of Hillsdale College, Casey’s work has also appeared in Fox News, Fox Business, and USA Today.

Red tsnumani? Tucker Carlson says Republican leadership to blame for lackluster election results

Suzanne Downing

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November 9, 2022

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Red tsnumani? Tucker Carlson says Republican leadership to blame for lackluster election results

Fox News host Tucker Carlson criticized the leaders of the Republicans in the House and Senate on Wednesday.

“The people whose job was to win and did not win should go do something else now, we’re speaking specifically of the Republican leadership of the House and the Senate and of the RNC,” Carlson said. “It’s nothing personal, no doubt some of them are nice people, but they took hundreds of millions of dollars to paint the map red and they didn’t. Doesn’t mean they’re evil, doesn’t mean they should be jailed. It does mean they shouldn’t be promoted. No one should ever be rewarded for failure. If there’s a truly conservative principle in life, it’s the principle of meritocracy. You reward excellence, you do not reward mediocrity.”

Promoting them would “reward mediocrity” after such ambiguous election results, he said.

“The plan was really simple. It seemed easy a week ago: An unpopular president, a faltering economy, an open border, the looming risk of nuclear war. How about that?” Carlson said. “Put all those together, how could there not be a massive Republican win nationally? Wins everywhere! Well, there weren’t. Some exceptions, but overall there weren’t. Joe Biden was not punished. In fact, he’s out there bragging about himself today. Pretty frustrating. You want Republicans to win, not simply because they’re so great, but because Democrats are so very bad, and that is not an overstatement.”

Carlson went on to say that those whose job it was to win those races should go do something else now.

“It’s nothing personal. Some of them are no-doubt nice people, but they took hundreds of millions of dollars to paint the map red and they didn’t,” he said of Republican leadership.

Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Senate Leadership Fund was the highest in “issue group spending” in Senate races, with a total of $205 million pooled across nine Senate races. The Republican group led by McConnell has focused its efforts in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina; each of those states have recorded over $30 million in spending from SLF, according to the site, AdImpact.com.

McConnell’s spend in Alaska to prop up Sen. Lisa Murkowski was ultimately nearly $7 million.

“The next highest spending issue group in Senate races is the Democratic counterpart to SLF, Senate Majority PAC with $176M across seven different Senate races. Senate Majority PAC was consistently outspending Senate Leadership Fund until September, but SLF has since placed over $202M between September and November,” AdImpact writes.

Meanwhile, the Congressional Leadership Fund, under the control of Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy, spent at least $200 million on the midterm elections, but avoided getting involved in the Alaska race to replace the late Congressman Don Young.

Strange: Palin presumes victory, hires Ward as acting chief of staff

Suzanne Downing

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November 9, 2022

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Strange: Palin presumes victory, hires Ward as acting chief of staff

Sarah Palin, who has lost her bid for Congress, declared that she presumes her victory and announced Jerry Ward as her acting chief of staff. She said she was already working with the Congressional Freedom Caucus in Washington, D.C. to deliver opportunities for Alaska and would be meeting with the Freedom Caucus on Thursday.

“It is my privilege to appoint Jerry Ward as acting chief of staff! Please see below contact info for Jerry Ward, COS,” she wrote on Facebook, where she also taped a soliloquy thanking her supporters, calling Republican Nick Begich a Democrat plant, dumping on the Republican establishment, but never mentioning the actual Democrat in the race, her friend Mary Peltola, who appears to be winning and now has over 47% of the vote.

In the special general election on Aug. 16, Palin lost in the final round of counting by 3 percentage points to Peltola, 51.5% to 48.5%. She is currently in second place in a four-person race.

The current standings for the candidates in the general election are:

– Mary Peltola – 101,236, or 47.22%
– Sarah Palin – 57,005, or 26.59%
– Nick Begich – 51,896, or 24.21%
– Chris Bye – 3,716, or 1.73%

Palin would have to be awarded nearly every Nick Begich second round vote in order to get to 50%+1. Leading pollsters don’t see that happening, although it is statistically possible. In ranked choice voting, a significant number of voters do not rank anyone second, and therefore their ballots don’t count toward the final round of counting.

In San Francisco Board of Supervisors, for instance, 53% of ballots were exhausted and only 8,200 ballots counted toward the final result. In the real world, voter behavior is different than in the theoretical world, especially for conservatives.

But Palin said she is feeling victorious.

In an official press release from her campaign she wrote:

“Thank you to my AMAZING, loyal group of friends and family who carried the baton over the finish line!! I can never thank them enough!

“It’s such a great honor to be given the opportunity to run for office in my home state – the greatest state in the greatest nation! We anticipate victory, despite not having election results tonight due to our assumed election integrity, so I’m already meeting with GOP Congressmen with our agenda to DRAIN THE SWAMP.

“It is my privilege to appoint Jerry Ward as acting chief of staff! Please see below contact info for Jerry Ward, COS.” She linked Ward’s GCI email address.

On Facebook, a portion of Sarah Palin’s remarks after the election.

On her Instagram account, Palin also indicated she is the victim of the GOP establishment and Dominion voting machines, politicos, and said she is going to go “even more blatantly ‘go rogue’ to expose the Biden agenda. In her words:

“Don’t retreat… RELOAD! I’m excited to ramp up the fight for America! Thank you volunteers, loyal friends and family, and mostly my favorite people on earth – my kids – for your support. Thank you for the privilege of offering myself up in the name of service to Alaska and America. Thank you, Vets, for our freedom to choose whom governs us! Now, watching election returns: the GOP establishment deserves losses until it’s willing to FIGHT for what is right. They opposed me every step of the way in my Congressional bid, which is par for the course. They were fine with “Republican” Lisa Murkowski taking $MILLIONS$ from Mitch McConnell’s GOP Senate Minority Fund (after she voted to impeach Pres. Trump and supported Biden’s radically liberal appointees) to defeat the top GOP voter-getter (me), as Lisa publicly endorsed the democrat in my race. This, while the GOP establishment actually endorsed the democrat-plant/Trojan horse Begich (of the democrat-dynasty Begich family and who publicly admits to supporting, voting for, and funding democrats) against me, while pushing this new un-American Ranked Choice Voting fiasco. They did away with Primaries, and purposefully confused voters through controlled liberal media, in order to split the GOP vote. RCV is playing out exactly as supporters of this cockamamie system planned. But, it’s not over until the fat lady sings! (Cue PC police for my choice of words in 3…2…1). While the Dominion vote counting continues this month, I have no sympathy for politicos who got sucked into the dark, dysfunctional GOP machine looking at losses today, but I’d have profound sympathy for America if I thought this thing was over. It’s not. Join me, determined to fight even harder, stand even taller, to even more blatantly “go rogue” to expose just how bad the Biden agenda and a complicit GOP machine are for America. Don’t give up, don’t give in, don’t believe the lie that a majority supports the direction America is headed. If YOU realize where we’re headed, you’d better go rogue to help save America. Stiffen your spine; hold the uni-party accountable; don’t donate hard-earned money to any hypocritical political machine. Under God, stand united!”

Her boyfriend, Ron Duguay, was the first to comment. “Well said,” Duguay responded on Instagram.

MatSu Borough election results include strong voter support for protection of Second Amendment

Suzanne Downing

-

November 9, 2022

7

MatSu Borough election results include strong voter support for protection of Second Amendment

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough held its election on Nov. 8. The borough is the only one in the state that aligns its election with the general election date. The unofficial results are as follows:

Assembly District 1

– Tim Hale, incumbent, 3,124

– Brian Endle, 2,345

Assembly District 2

– Stephanie Nowers, incumbent, 2,043

– Meghan Trupp, 1,329

– Dana Raffaniello, 1,329

School Board District 2 (Jim Hart vacating)

– Kendal Kruse, 2,267

– Ray Michaelson, 1,942

School Board District 3

– Kathy McCollum, 3,648

School Board District 5 (Ryan Ponder vacating)

– Jacob Butcher, 2,018

– Shirley Akelkok, 765

– Jimmie Elrod, 603

School Board District 6

– Ole Larson, 3,541

School Board District 7 (Jeff Taylor vacating)

– Ted Swanson, 2,314
– Christiana Sitbon, 1,608

Proposition 1, requiring any future ordinance regulating the discharge of firearms outside city limits must be ratified by voters before it could take effect.

Yes, 20,254

No, 7,979

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MatSu Borough election results include strong voter support for protection of Second Amendment

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