A last-minute request by four Republican candidates for Congress to gain the endorsement of the Alaska Republican Party was debated, amended, but ultimately voted down by the Alaska Republican Party on Saturday.
The Rules Committee’s decision to honor the process the party had established was upheld. Nick Begich had already been endorsed by the party because he had followed the rules and completed the interview procedure for requesting an endorsement prior to the Republican gathering this weekend.
Jerry Ward, a key figure in the campaign of Sarah Palin for Congress, made the request of the State Central Committee on Saturday, saying he had text messages from John Coghill, Josh Revak, Tara Sweeney, and Palin asking that the State Central Committee suspend the party’s rules for endorsements and endorse the four. The day before, Palin had said to the mainstream media that she would not seek the party’s endorsement, but Ward said he had her permission to ask for the endorsement.
There are 16 Republicans on the special election ballot for the temporary seat in Congress, but only Begich, Coghill, Revak, Sweeney, and Palin were invited to participate in the forum at the state convention because they were identified as the most viable.
Sweeney, earlier in the day, had said to the room of over 300 people that the endorsement of Begich was not fair because the delegates had not yet heard from the candidates who were on stage during the candidate forum. Palin also had blasted the party on Friday for the endorsement of Begich, saying it was a “good old boys network.” Begich stayed out of the drama, as he had read the rules, interviewed with the party chairwoman, and put in a formal request in advance of Thursday’s State Central Committee meeting, while the other candidates appeared to be caught flat-footed.
In a separate request, Charlie Pierce had asked for an endorsement for governor and had won that endorsement — again having followed the rules. The party has also endorsed Gov. Mike Dunleavy during its January meeting.
Some in the room at the Westmark said that they didn’t want to give a blanket endorsement to the remaining four after hearing from them briefly in the forum. One said that the forum was a superficial “get to know you” event and that it wasn’t a deep dive into the philosophy and record of each of the candidates. No one on the stage was asked his or her opinion on abortion, for example, a key part of the party platform. The candidates weren’t asked where they stand on the Second Amendment. In short, a few minutes from each candidate answering general questions about what it means to be a Republican was not enough to persuade the voting officers of the party that all of them deserved an endorsement.
The decision would have required a two-thirds vote to suspend the rules. With the combined support of all four candidates teaming up to try to get the group endorsement, the vote to suspend the rules did not even reach the 50 percent threshold.
Those arguing in favor of the blanket endorsement said that with ranked choice voting, the party should be endorsing all of the candidates who claim to be Republicans.
By the time the vote took place, the candidates themselves had left the convention to continue campaigning. Nick Begich, Tara Sweeney, and Josh Revak were spotted at the Wild Sheep Foundation banquet on Saturday night in Anchorage, while Palin was on a plane heading south.
It was a successful week for Nick Begich, who had received the endorsement of Americans for Prosperity Action on Wednesday, the endorsement of Jim and Faye Palin (Palin ex-inlaws), the endorsement of the Alaska Republican Party, and finally, the Mat-Su Young Republicans endorsed him on Saturday.
It was the consensus of several who spoke with Must Read Alaska that Nick Begich also emerged as the winner of the candidate forum at the state convention.
“He crushed it,” said one of the delegates.
The other Republican candidates can still gain the endorsement of the party by following the rules in advance of the July meeting of the party officers.
