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Notes from the trail: Candidates and a huge turnout on the Kenai at a Republican get-out-the-vote rally

Suzanne Downing
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Notes from the trail: Candidates and a huge turnout on the Kenai at a Republican get-out-the-vote rally

At a packed house at a campaign rally in Soldotna, there was notable enthusiasm for the Republican candidates, with headliners Kelly Tshibaka for Senate, Nick Begich for Congress, and Charlie Pierce for Governor. A representative for Gov. Mike Dunleavy was also there.

Organizers said the get out the vote rally at Soldotna Sports Center had “tons of newcomers. People came early and stayed late they were motivated to come up to candidates after the rally to sign up to help and hand over donations.” Pictured above are from left, Rep. Ben Carpenter, Heath Smith, Charlie Pierce, Nick Begich, Kelly Tshibaka, Rep. Ron Gillham, Rep. Sarah Vance, and Tuckerman Babcock, who was the emcee.

“Nick Begich and Kelly Tshibaka were in sync like I’ve never seen before,” said one attendee. “She was very warm toward Nick when they were campaigning together on the Kenai.” Earlier, Tshibaka had been more in sync with Sarah Palin, but something has changed.

Tshibaka thanked Babcock, saying he was the best boss she had ever had (he was chief of staff when she was commissioner of Administration.) The event was hosted by Kenai Peninsula Republican Women’s Club.

Debate watch party – Save the Date:

Among items to be auctioned at the Nick Begich fundraiser, all kinds of Trump-signed paraphernalia, prints signed by Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young, a vintage Chilkoot Charlie’s mug, a book autographed by Karl Rove, a gift certificate to White Spot Cafe, an autographed 1980 U.S. Olympic Mens Hockey Team poster, about about 20 other auction items that are of interest to Alaska history buffs.

In the national media:

Politico story on the Peltola-Begich says Alaska could be bellwether.

Yahoo News on why Don Young staffers are backing Peltola at this link.

Former staff and friends have signed a letter — which was shared with Insider and released after publication on Friday — urging Alaska voters to give the congresswoman a full, two-year term, highlighting Peltola’s “commitment to running a positive race, bipartisan approach to public service, and legislative priorities that put Alaska at the forefront.”

Evidently, they didn’t see this story about the D.C. Mafia:

Document drop: Chain of emails shows lobbyists from Don Young era are now pulling for Mary Peltola, since ‘almost every Democrat vote that turns out is a vote for Lisa’

Stampede: Growing referendum on Sen. Mitch McConnell by Alaska Republican committees furious over attack ads against Republican candidate Kelly Tshibaka

Suzanne Downing
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Stampede: Growing referendum on Sen. Mitch McConnell by Alaska Republican committees furious over attack ads against Republican candidate Kelly Tshibaka

Another wave of Alaska Republican Party committees with voting rights on the State Central Committee have passed resolutions sharply criticizing Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell for meddling in Alaska elections against the wishes of the Alaska Republican Party. They are demanding action.

The number of committees that have passed resolutions of censure against Sen. McConnell grew with District 7, District 26, and District 29 joining Districts 6, 9, 13, 23, and 30, which had also passed resolutions censuring McConnell and the Senate Leadership Fund during the past week.

That makes eight of the 34 organized Republican district committees in the state, or over 23 percent, with several more committees in the process of voting on similar resolutions on Friday, Must Read Alaska has learned.

McConnell’s Senate Leadership Fund has been bombarding the airwaves of Alaska with attacks on Tshibaka, in support of his favored candidate, Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Downing: McConnell’s proxy war with Trump in Alaska is stuck on stupid

But wait, there’s more.

Also passing a resolution of censure against McConnell was the Valley Republican Women of Alaska, joining Republican Women of the Kenai, Anchorage Republican Women’s Club, and the Mat-Su Republican Women’s Club — all calling out McConnell for running $7 million of negative campaign ads against the party’s endorsed candidate Kelly Tshibaka.

All of these women’s clubs have voting membership on the State Central Committee. Only two women’s clubs have not announced action.

Districts have gone further and requested that State Central Committee take a vote on a censure from the party itself. With this much of a groundswell, one could speculate the State Central Committee will indeed take action.

The statement from Chairwoman Ann Brown on the matter has not been enough for some party officers. She said: “US Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka announced her candidacy in March 2021. The Alaska Republican Party endorsed her and is proud to support her. She has been campaigning all over the state, meeting with and listening to voters. We know Kelly’s message of ‘It’s time for a change’ is resonating because recently we are seeing quite a few attack ads against her. Don’t believe those ads. To learn the truth about Kelly go to www.kellyforak.com.”

Mary Ann Pruitt, consultant to the Tshibaka campaign, said ““Alaskans don’t like to be bullied by powerful people from the Lower 48, but that’s exactly what Mitch McConnell is trying to do when he attacks Kelly Tshibaka, the endorsed candidate of the Alaska Republican Party. I’m proud of the party leaders who are bold enough to stand up and say they’re not going to be marginalized in their own state by the highest elected Republican official in the country. I’d also note that Lisa Murkowski has always loudly criticized outside dark money, so it’s especially sad to see her desperately trying to cling to power this way.”

Tidal wave from Alaska Republicans: Three more committees resolve censures against Mitch McConnell attacks on candidate Kelly Tshibaka
Now six: Two more Republican committees in Alaska blast Sen. Mitch McConnell for bullying Kelly Tshibaka
Fourth Republican group spanks Sen. Mitch McConnell for attacking Kelly Tshibaka
Hell hath no fury: Anchorage Republican Women’s Club condemns Sen. Mitch McConnell for Tshibaka attacks
More blowback: Second Alaska Republican committee votes to censure Sen. Mitch McConnell for attacking Alaska GOP Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka
Blowback: District 6 Republicans blast Senator Mitch McConnell for his political attack ads targeting Tshibaka

Abortion on demand for military: Department of Defense will pay for women to travel out of states for abortions

Suzanne Downing
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29
Abortion on demand for military: Department of Defense will pay for women to travel out of states for abortions

The Defense Department will pay for travel costs of service members and their dependents who want abortions but who are in states that limit those procedures.

The decision comes in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June that sent abortion laws back to the states. Some states have since curtailed the the procedure in varying degrees.

Military members can ask for an administrative absence from their duty station for abortions, which means the granted leave will be in addition to their normal leave, according to the memo from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The memo, “Ensuring Access to Reproductive Health Care,”  says the Supreme Court decision “has impacted access to reproductive health care, with readiness, recruiting and retention implications for the force.”

According to a recent study, 450,000 service members now live in states where abortion is restricted. Some 17% of the military are women, and it’s a growing percentage.

Under federal law, Department of Defense funds and facilities may only be used to perform abortions where the life of the mother would be endangered if the child en utero was carried to term, or in a case in which the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest. The most recent statistics show that between 2016 and 2021, a total of 91 abortions were performed in military medical treatment facilities. 

CDC advisory panel says yes to routine Covid shots for infants

Suzanne Downing
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47
CDC advisory panel says yes to routine Covid shots for infants

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee has voted unanimously in favor of adding the Covid vaccine to the schedule of recommended immunizations for children.

Infants who are older than six months should get a Covid vaccine, and any boosters that come on the market when they are eligible for it, said the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

The decision is controversial because many states automatically adopt CDC recommendations, which means that the CDC, though the states, will mandate these shots in order for children to attend school. The CDC has been trying to distance itself from responsibility by saying it is a state decision.

Over the summer, the panel recommended, and the CDC adopted the recommendation that people over the age of six should get Covid shots. Today’s decision recommends that the shots be added to the regularly scheduled list of vaccinations that children get. The final decision is up to CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky.

Shots that are now being given to children six months through five years are the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines. The CDC says all children, including children who have already had COVID-19, should get vaccinated.

Republicans call for end of forced Covid vaccinations on children in D.C. schools

On Fox News, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine professor Dr. Marty Makary warned that the move will further fuel vaccine hesitancy among parents and caregivers because there isn’t a lot of clinical data to support the benefit to children to getting the vaccine. Makary said that the CDC’s recommendations are highly influential on states as they decide which vaccines to require for school attendance.

The approved Covid vaccines are still considered “emergency authorization” products and manufacturers are shielded from all liability in case of injury.

Big reveal: CDC data show nearly 8% of Covid vaccine recipients had reactions requiring medical help

“It has been almost two years since COVID-19 vaccines were first rolled out in the U.S., and nearly 630 million doses have since been administered nationwide, providing people with critical protection against severe COVID-19. ACIP’s recommendation to add COVID-19 vaccines to the routinely recommended vaccine schedule represents another step in the nation’s recovery,” the CDC said in a published statement after the vote.

Read the CDC’s complete statement on the advisory vote at this link.

CDC panel to vote on adding Covid shots to list for recommended childhood vaccines
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Dunleavy at AFN: Like Hammond, rural Alaska is what made him who he is, helped him prepare for the pandemic

Suzanne Downing
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Dunleavy at AFN: Like Hammond, rural Alaska is what made him who he is, helped him prepare for the pandemic

Gov. Mike Dunleavy drew upon his decades of living above the Arctic Circle in his speech to the congregants at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Anchorage on Thursday.

Dressed in his best suit and tie and looking fit and trim, having come off of a successful Wednesday night debate with his competitors, Alaska’s governor was relaxed and personable as he spent the better part of 15 minutes talking about his love for rural Alaska and how it has shaped him as governor.

He told the story of teaching in Koyuk, on the north shore of Norton Sound with a population of 250 people, and how it changed him for the better.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy visiting storm-strafed villages in western Alaska earlier this month, here pictured in Unalakleet.

“Rural Alaska is always at the top of my mind, because I know that living in those communities made me the person I am today. I know that living in rural Alaska made me a better person,” he said. “I know that I consider those years to be some of the best years of my life, whether it was visiting with elders, whether it was watching my kids grow up, or whether it was going with my family to catch our food.”

Dunleavy, who like the late Gov. Jay Hammond, spent nearly half of his life in rural Alaska said, “There’s hardly a day that goes by when I don’t have a moment when I wish I was back there. It’s where I met my wife Rose, got married, and where my daughters spent their childhoods. It’s where I made some of my fondest memories and some of my best friends.”

Hammond, too, was a rural Republican and was the only Republican in Alaska state history to be reelected for a second term — so far. Like Hammond, Dunleavy is married to an Alaska Native, and has raised Native children. And Like Hammond, Dunleavy has advocated for protecting the Permanent Fund dividend.

Rural Alaska was where Dunleavy chose to be sworn into office in 2018, and where he held his first inaugural celebration, in his wife Rose’s hometown of Noorvik, he told the audience.

“Rural Alaska isn’t just a place I lived. It’s part of my life,” Dunleavy said, and then segued into speaking about the impact of the pandemic on rural Alaska, and other challenges the people of village Alaska face every day.

Gov. Dunleavy, like Jay Hammond before him, is a rural Alaskan who rolls up sleeves and pitches in to help

It was the first time the governor has been able to speak in person to the convention since before the pandemic, as this year’s convention is the first to be held in person since 2019. He has only spoken in person to AFN as governor once — and then the pandemic hit in 2020. Dunleavy said he was thrilled to be back with people of Alaska in person.

A word cloud (emphasis analysis) of the governor’s speech to the Alaska Federation of Natives gives a flavor of his topics:

Debate: Walker admits his China gas line was a mistake on statewide TV during KTUU’s ‘Debate for the State’

Paulette Schuerch: It’s my choice behind voting curtain

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
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Paulette Schuerch: It’s my choice behind voting curtain

By PAULETTE SCHUERCH

When I turn the television on these days, the only thing I see are negative ads, and they’re all aimed at Republican Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka. And many of them come from people from the Lower 48, trying to tell us how to vote. 

I’m not swayed by the lies in advertisements. I’m voting for Kelly Tshibaka, and if the powerful people in the Lower 48 are against her, that means she’s doing something right. 

The outsiders have brought the Washington, D.C. viciousness to our part of the world, but it wasn’t always this way.  

I was invited to my first campaign trip when I was in the 10th grade by Senator Frank Ferguson; a number of us traveled by boat to Noorvik from Kotzebue.  At that age, in the early 1980s, I was worried more about seeing my family and friends running around the beach playing tag and getting caught up with those I grew up with before moving to Kotzebue.   

Paulette Schurech: Why rural Alaska is leaving Murkowski

During those years growing up, we had Leaders in all of our communities that were big-picture thinkers, movers, and shakers.  Did we sit in class waiting for our teachers to teach us civil discourse? Probably not.  It’s because of our parents, grandparents, and Leaders who carved into our minds that we had a greater understanding of cooperation, avoiding conflict, and respecting our Elders by participating without conflict; let us seek to understand, and let’s agree to disagree.    

Today, campaigns are much different; they have evolved over the last four decades from working together and helping one another, giving advice to your opponent, to what it is now.  Our national figures think that it’s easier to tear their opponents apart and spread lies. 

I’m voting for Tshibaka, which marks a very different path for me personally compared to how I’ve voted for 20 years, when I used to support incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski. I’m hearing criticisms from some of my “friends” now who don’t like that, but I am still the person I was but with a lot more experience since the 10th grade.    

Have you been feeling like “WHEN WILL THIS END?” Or “I cannot wait until it is over!”   

I’m in your boat now and know that it will stop soon. 

So, when you slide behind that voting curtain, you let it all go, and mark Kelly Tshibaka as your first choice and show all those outside interests and people from other states who cannot vote here that they aren’t in charge of Alaska.  Alaskans are in charge of Alaskans. 

Paulette Schuerchwas born in Kotzebue and raised by her grandparents in Noorvik. She has fought for rural Alaska on the political stage, working for campaigns such as Governor Knowles, Governor Palin, Governor Walker, and Senator Murkowski’s 2010 write-in bid. She now supports Kelly Tshibaka for U.S. Senate. 

Paulette Schuerch: Rural Alaskans always adapt, and right now it means changing our U.S. senator

   

Downing: McConnell’s proxy war with Trump in Alaska is stuck on stupid
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Tidal wave from Alaska Republicans: Three more committees resolve censures against Mitch McConnell attacks on candidate Kelly Tshibaka

Suzanne Downing
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21
Tidal wave from Alaska Republicans: Three more committees resolve censures against Mitch McConnell attacks on candidate Kelly Tshibaka

Another two Republican district committees and one additional Republican women’s club have passed resolutions calling for Sen. Mitch McConnell and the Republican Leadership Fund to cease its negative ads against Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka.

That brings the number of resolutions from voting units of the state party to eight — five district committees and three women’s clubs.

District 13 and District 23 joined Districts 6, 9, and 30, bringing the number of similarly worded resolutions to five out of the 40 organized Republican districts in the state.

Tshibaka is endorsed by the Alaska Republican Party, while Sen. Lisa Murkowski has been censured by an overwhelming vote that occurred in 2021, and was asked to leave the party. The national party has remained silent on the issue of Murkowski being at odds with her state’s party, but Sen. McConnell of Kentucky, who controls the Senate Leadership Fund, has endorsed Murkowski and is spending $7 million to destroy Murkowski’s Republican-endorsed opponent, Tshibaka.

Blowback: District 6 Republicans blast Senator Mitch McConnell for his political attack ads targeting Tshibaka

Blowback: District 6 Republicans blast Senator Mitch McConnell for his political attack ads targeting Tshibaka

Downing: McConnell’s proxy war with Trump in Alaska is stuck on stupid

The Republican Women of the Kenai Club also issued a resolution this week, joining the Anchorage Republican Women’s Club and the Mat-Su Republican Women’s Club in calling for the censure of McConnell. The three clubs are some of the most active and engaged women’s groups in Alaska politics.

The resolution from the Kenai women takes it up a notch: It condemns McConnell for his bullying of Tshibaka, and it asks that the Alaska Republican Party make a stronger statement about the attack ads that have been all over the airwaves in Alaska, paid for with Republican donations to the Senate Leadership Fund.

The group also asked that the matter be brought before the State Central Committee for a vote of censure. The resolution calls the current Alaska Republican Party response from its chairwoman Ann Brown as “anemic, toothless, and ineffective.”

The club is requesting that Kentucky Republicans take swift action to condemn their senator and that the Alaska Republican Party demand that the Republican National Committee also defend the Alaska Republicans in their efforts to elect Tshibaka.

More blowback: Second Alaska Republican committee votes to censure Sen. Mitch McConnell for attacking Alaska GOP Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka

The Senate Leadership Fund is a superPAC controlled by the Senate’s top Republican, which has been spending enormous amounts to try to retake the Senate. But rather than focusing on Democrats, McConnell is spending millions in Alaska to interfere with the Alaska Senate race between two powerful Republicans — the incumbent Murkowski and challenger Tshibaka, who has built a huge base of support in a short period of time. Democrat Pat Chesbro is widely understood as just providing a backup vote for Murkowski in the ranked choice scenario now being used in Alaska elections.

The movement in Alaska among Republican leaders has started to gain national attention, with stories in The Federalist and Breitbart about the growing number of local resolutions.

Resolution-Condeming-McConnellDownload
Fourth Republican group spanks Sen. Mitch McConnell for attacking Kelly Tshibaka

Pants on fire: Andy Josephson says police and fire departments endorse him; Henslee calls him out on lie

Suzanne Downing
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Pants on fire: Andy Josephson says police and fire departments endorse him; Henslee calls him out on lie

Rep. Andy Josephson, facing his toughest competitor yet in House District 13 candidate Kathy Henslee, has turned to an old trick: Lying about endorsements. In this instance, Josephson is repeating that he has an important endorsement from the Anchorage Police Department and Anchorage Fire Department.

One of Rep. Andy Josephson’s misleading ads.

What Josephson is saying in his ads is that two city departments endorse him, which would be illegal. City governments cannot endorse candidates. What he is implying is that the public safety employees are in his camp.

Many who are sworn officers do not, in fact, support lawmakers like Josephson, who are hard leftists. Josephson has an F grade from the National Rifle Association, and is endorsed by hardcore groups such as the Alaska Center [for the Environment], the National Education Association [NEA], and Planned Parenthood Alliance.

What is true is that the political action committee run by the public safety employees’ union is throwing its support to Josephson, but the distinction is important to those serving in public safety roles. Not all police or firefighters agree with the union PAC endorsement.

Some of them have contacted Must Read Alaska to straighten out the record: Josephson’s ads are beyond misleading — they are false.

The race for District 13 is considered winnable for conservatives, since the boundaries have been changed due to redistricting. The district is midtown-Taku-Campbell area and trends conservatives, while Josephson is a hard-left Democrat.

Henslee’s father and her father-in-law are retired Alaska state troopers. She grew up in a law enforcement family.

“The safety of all of our families is a top issue. We need to support our law enforcement to do the job they’ve been hired and trained to do. Their hands should not be tied. I completely support the police and firefighters and am grateful for their service,” Henslee said.

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CDC panel to vote on adding Covid shots to list for recommended childhood vaccines

Suzanne Downing
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CDC panel to vote on adding Covid shots to list for recommended childhood vaccines

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel is considering adding Covid-19 vaccinations to the list of recommended childhood vaccines. The decision is expected to come from the annual meeting on vaccines on Thursday, at which time officials decide which vaccines should be recommended to certain age groups and individuals.

While the CDC doesn’t mandate shots for children, several states have laws that say they adopt the CDC vaccine guidelines automatically. Mainstream media has criticized Fox News analyst Tucker Carson for saying the CDC is going to mandate the shots; for many states, the CDC guidelines are indeed a mandate because for children to attend school, they must be current on the CDC list of shots. All states adopt the CDC vaccine list with minimal variation.

The CDC itself went into damage control over Carlson’s claim: “Thursday, CDC’s independent advisory committee (ACIP) will vote on an updated childhood immunization schedule. States establish vaccine requirements for school children, not ACIP or CDC,” the CDC said on Twitter, not discussing the nuance that the CDC actually does trigger mandates.

Children are given a long list of vaccines as a requirement to attend school, including for diseases such as measles, mumps, diphtheria, pertussis, chicken pox, and hepatitis A and B. The list of vaccines have a long history of usage, and some side effects are accepted with them. Sometimes side effects to vaccines can be severe, but it’s a societal decision that the spread of a disease is a worse outcome. Diseases such as polio and smallpox have had crippling and deadly results. Vaccines are given to children starting at a very young age, starting at birth with a hepatitis B shot.

With Covid-19 shots, there is less known about long-term side effects and pharmaceutical companies have no legal liability because these shots are being used under an emergency authorization to prevent the spread and severity of Covid.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is not the final arbiter, but the CDC director usually accepts the recommendations and states will follow suit.

CDC already recommends that people ages 5 years and older receive one updated (bivalent) booster if it has been at least 2 months since their last COVID-19 vaccine dose, whether that was their final primary series dose, or an original (monovalent) booster. The Covid booster shot schedule has been variable in nature, but appears to be heading toward at least one booster shot per year, as the virus mutates.

The agenda and webcast link to the meeting:

Agenda [2 pages]

Presentations

Webcast Link

The Alaska Department of Health Immunization Packet, with current requirements for vaccines for children to attend school, is at this link.

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