The Must Read Alaska newsletter, which reaches 33,000 Alaskans three times a week, is known for pithy news, insights, and the Question of the Week, which is a nonscientific reading of the opinions of the mainly conservative readership.
This week, the opinions were nearly unanimous: 95% of participants in the three-day poll said that any Republican coming in after the first-place Republican in the congressional race should drop.
That means readers participating in the survey overwhelmingly agree that Nancy Dahlstrom, Matthew Salisbury, and Gerald Heikes should clear the decks so that leading candidate Nick Begich can go head-to-head with Rep. Mary Peltola in November, and so Republicans’ energies, funds, and enthusiasm is not diluted between various also-ran candidates.
Nick Begich, who got 6,000 more votes than Nancy Dahlstrom, learned the lesson in 2022. Those who are not in first can cost Republicans the ticket. Several months ago, he vowed that he would drop if he came in behind someone else. Dahlstrom never made that promise but said she would sit down with Begich and Gov. Mike Dunleavy and discuss the matter after the primary.
She didn’t, however. Before election results were in on Tuesday, Dahlstrom put up a press release on her website declaring herself as advancing to the general election. She then sent out a fundraising letter that celebrated her victory.
Must Read Alaska newsletter subscribers tend to be the conservative super voters in Alaska. They’re the ones who never miss an election. The newsletter is opened by more than 10,000 of these Alaskans every time it hits their email boxes.
In a previous week, Must Read Alaska ran a poll asking voters who they thought would be able to get the most done in Washington, D.C. — Mary Peltola, Nick Begich, or Nancy Dahlstrom. The results of that poll are:
I didn’t see the poll. You can add me to having Dahlstrom drop.
I have two questions.
How much money have Begich and Dahlstrom spent in their respective races to-date?
and
Which candidate can best demonstrate the ability to raise the funds necessary to win the race in November?
These questions are far from the only, or even most important, questions that need to be asked. But they are also not inconsequential. If conservatives start getting conned into spending most of their cash in the primary (which is non-binding), in order to demonstrate their “viability” then this trend will not only impact this race but every race with a conservative candidate going forward.
What’s the point of getting crowned the winner in the primary if you had to “buy it” by spending money you will need in the general (and don’t have the means to replace through new donors and donations)?
I’m not saying Dahlstrom is the conservative candidate, but if her (or any other candidate’s) approach was to save her finite resources in preparation for the general election (the results of which ARE binding), that is actually the conservative position from a financial standpoint.
Bottom line: I want to see the numbers in black and white. I want those who support Dahlstrom dropping out to have to show these numbers in black and white before calling on her to drop out. We can’t afford to put future Republican candidates in the lose-lose situation of either having to be prodigals in overspending to win the primary or being told to drop out because they prudently chose to conserve their limited resources for the general.
Note: This isn’t a factor if you are independently wealthy and can afford to spend excessively in both the primary and the general.
Show me the numbers.
Rep. Eastman, I don’t have “black and white numbers” (but I imagine they are available from APOC). But on the radio, I heard many more ads for Nancy Dahlstrom leading up to the primary, than from Nick Begich. Nancy Dahlstrom was very well funded from out of state, and had quite the well-polished ad blitz. However, that did not propel her past Nick Begich in the election. I heard a lot more of Nick on radio talk shows speaking in depth about the issues. I voted for Nick Begich.
David Eastman has some wisdom here, but is fundamentally mistaken about positions – of which Nick Begich is far and away the better and more competent candidate. Randy – well said.
Those ads were paid for by an independent third party, not the Dahlstrom campaign
I agree with Eastman.
How is saving your resources the “conservative position” if it guarantees a Democrat victory ?
It makes Eastman feel better about himself.
Which is all that matters to Eastman.
Very interesting comment and perspective about the situation with campaign spending. Speaking of money- everywhere I go on the internet, I have been bombarded with ads for Mary Peltola.
They all seem to feature an older, “just folks,” hardworking farmer, fisherman, slope oilman, etc. They all say “I voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, but I’m voting for Mary Peltola because she cares about, champions, acts to preserve, etc., some issue that affects my profession, job, pension or future.”
These ads are a blatant attempt to position Mary P. as “the candidate who cares ,” to siphon off conservative votes for her. This ad blitz did a good job of obscuring her real voting record, and cost a huge amount of money to run. All that “dark money” paid off for her.
She voted with Pelosi some 90% of the time, and shafted Alaska at every turn. It baffles me how over 50% of voting Alaskans could support her.
She will pursue this deceptive strategy during the next round, since it worked so well this time. Any serious Republican candidate needs to put her real voting record front and center, in the future.
Idiot.
The ability to raise $100 million an hour is useless if the voters have already said they don’t want a particular candidate.
Almost every time you post you remind me and several others why we really don’t like you.
You just lost my vote Eastman.
You are not considering the donations that will come in now that there is a clear R leader. I, for one, have been holding off and so have others I know.
Last I heard Mary Peltola had close to 3 million in her “war chest”
She obviously can raise the most money….but from who?
The devil amongst others not even known to Alaskans.
Nancy, please drop out of the race for the sake of America’s future. If you stay in, it will shine a light on how you helped a communist (Mary Peltola) stay in her stolen seat. That will end any future prospects for you in the Republican Party. Do us all a big favor and drop out now!
Get the he– out
What is wrong with this woman? Everyone in Alaska can see she is self-destructing and holding up the congressional race. Something is terribly wrong with Nancy Dahlstrom. Mental illness? I wouldn’t want her in the governor’s office either.
At 67 yrs old my guess is she is doing it for the money.
Lots of outside money coming her way from the same donors who are showering Scary Mary
If Dahlstrom is just seeking attention and headlines in the news …… she’s getting it now. It’s not good, either. Most Alaska Republicans despise her. Democrats view her as a useful idiot.
Governor Dunleavy:
You’ve got a BIG problem next to you.
No sh*t!!
Alaska, a small population state, should focus on enhancing the value of our single seat with seniority.
Dahlstrom is 67, so when she has 10 years of seniority she will be 77.
Begich is currently 55. When he is 77 he will have 32 yrs of seniority.
Strategically Begich makes a lot more sense.
erak,
You math is flawed…
Thanks. Sorry – Typo. Nick is 45 yrs (not 55). When is serves til age 77, he will have 32 yrs of seniority.
Nick is actually in his 40s.
By your theory, we should just elect a baby because the baby would have the most seniority at 77.
Begichs 46.
Nancy Dahlstrom really must remove herself from this race!
Frankly, as the lieutenant governor and being in charge of state-wide elections, she should never have declared her candidacy for Congress in the first place. All of this fallout shows us that she is selfish, destructive, clueless, unconcerned about Alaska’s future, and easily distracted by the next big opportunity she envisions. She was a disaster at Corrections, has been uninterested in cleaning-up the voter roles (which is her current job), and is generally quite lazy.
Alaska deserves much better … VOTE FOR NICK BEGICH!
Completely agree.
How can we send a message directly to Dahlstrom?
If you have to ask that question, you need a whole bunch more guidance than you can provide the Lt. Governor.
If she doesn’t pull her name out, then we have to look at what compensation she must be getting to keep MP having an advantage with RCV.
95% are not going to make GODS cut so now you know who you are how shameless. Its Peltola by a noise in a rigged system all, Nancy has more class we do not need a family of oath breakers who can’t fly no nick. Nancy MAGA
Your not exactly a political genius dustin…. just sayin.
And where in “your” bible did Jesus say only 5% of us will sit next to God?
This is reminiscent of the Dems telling Biden to drop out. Wow I remember reading all the disdain from these astute readers.
KETTLE
RCV, the gift that keeps giving. Peltola will cruise to an easy victory with little campaigning. Dark money bought her the media and radio waves.
Every Republican or conservative just needs to vote Republican when it comes to the election. Rate your choice 1 through 3 and leave the 4th empty. Do not even give the Dem pretending to carry Young’s legacy forward a vote. I also prefer Begich over Dalstrom, but if she stays in, I will rank her 2. Simple as that and also vote to get rid of rank choice voting.
Your logic is flawed. RCV is a shell game, intentionally favoring Dems by strategy. A.) Ranking dilutes the Conservative vote as 51% cannot be achieved in a 2 candidate party. By design. The Dems got the memo: only 1 candidate in any race, under RCV.
A vote for any other republican candidate than ones for Nick Begich will be a vote for Peltola and get her reelected.
Is it any wonder why Peltola says “every vote counts”?
But…… they are modern Republicans, and like that Bear Hunter on the Kenai the one thing they excel at, in fact they may be the “best ever” at to quote the Republican cult leader, Dementia Don it’s shooting themselves in the foot. Enjoy Mary again, lol.
It’s clear, Dahlstrom is not going to drop out. We absolutely need a Republican in that seat. Begich needs to step up and take one for the team. Drop out now, Nick …
Kenaijoe, your comment would make more sense if Dahlstrom was actually a Republican rather than a RINO.
Dahlstrom is getting out. She is negotiating her severance package. One more giant grift before she hits the door.
Nick is a Republican and beat Nancy for 6,000 votes. What part of that are you confused about?
I keep getting told that Begich is a successful businessman. How come I never hear this from any of his clients or employees?
Between all the republican votes, some would vote for Peltola?
Over 10,000 ranked Palin no. 2 in 2022. Probably 20,000 this year.
Well Jim, the Begich clients and employees you know are LOSERS. Losers never like successful people. Stop hanging out with LOSERS.
You sound like a Democrat. False flag. Ignore Citizenkane, a Democrat impostor.
I’ve never heard anything, good or bad.
I’ve been watching Begich for over 2 years. He’s put in the work. He’s constantly visiting districts to ascertain local needs. He’s been an advocate for independent direction in all districts according to their actual needs. Dahlstrom has quite obviously been coasting in her position as Lt. Gov. The position is in charge of elections. At 113% of eligible registration age, our voter rolls are dirty, filthy. By law (1993 NVRA) states must make a “reasonable effort” to purge voter rolls of inactive, moved + dead voters. In addition, the rolls must be purged of registered voters at commercial addresses, null addresses and fraudulent addresses. Dahlstrom has one job as Lt. Gov. and has purposely failed at it. She’s committed fraud in her “representation” of Alaskan voters.
Suzanne, why do my comments get deleted from some of your article comment sections? I don’t say anything worse or better than the other comments I read here, but they are now missing.
Sometimes just too many typos to fix. – sd
If conservatives would get their heads out of the sand and use Ranked Choice correctly they would win either way (eye roll).
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