Congressional candidate Sarah Palin is said to have offered to bring musician and hunting activist Ted Nugent to Fairbanks for the Republican Party convention, April 21-23. According to sources, the Alaska Republican Party demurred, and said it was unable to accommodate the appearance.
“The schedule was already tight,” Must Read Alaska’s source said. “There’s a reception on Thursday night and a big fundraiser on Friday night, and then meetings on Saturday. But she could do it on her own on Saturday night after the convention ends.”
Convention planning has been under way for months for the convention, which takes place every two years. Among those attending and speaking this year are Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniels and Florida Congressman Rep. Brian Mast. Gov. Mike Dunleavy is a keynote speaker, as is Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka. With 16 Republicans now appearing on the special election primary ballot on June 11, the convention just got to be a lot more interesting. Palin has not attended a Republican convention in at least over a decade.
But in 2017, she visited the White House with Nugent and Kid Rock, when the three partied with President Donald Trump and got a tour of every room.
“Mr. Nugent — a guitar demigod, knife-between-the-teeth hunter and conservative provocateur — offered an inside glimpse of a gracious, relaxed and house-proud president with ample time to offer his thoughts on a wide array of topics, from entertainment to existential geopolitical perils,” the New York Times wrote at the time.
“Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, described the meeting as ‘a long-planned’ token of the president’s appreciation for Ms. Palin’s support in the 2016 campaign. But Mr. Nugent said it was much more than that.
“’It was like a family reunion,’” he said. ‘None of us expected this. He showed us the bed in the Lincoln Bedroom and explained how that was where the president’s son died. He knew the designer of the chairs. He showed us the bulletproof glass.’”
According to the Times, the trio had dinner that was finished with a Baked Alaska in honor of Palin’s support for Trump during the 2016 presidential election. Topics over dinner induced “health, fitness, food, rock ’n’ roll, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, secure borders, the history of the United States, guns, bullets, bows and arrows, North Korea, Russia” and other issues, the Times wrote.
Palin’s competitors in the upcoming June 11 special election primary include Republicans Nick Begich of Eagle River, Tara Sweeney of Anchorage, John Coghill of Fairbanks, and several other contenders. Also running are Democrat-backed Chris Constant and Al Gross. The top four vote-getters in the special election primary will appear on a “ranked choice” ballot on Aug. 16, which will be held at the same time as the regular primary for the two-year seat.
The winner of the special election will serve as the placeholder in Congress until the regular election is completed in November.
